--.»j»JvJ4t  vry^y/y/tyy/v. 


12mm 


^  PRINCETON,    N.  J. 


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Purchased  by  the  Hammill   Missionary  Fund. 


Division 
Section 


Niiviber... 


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-■  "T.   -•-•.'--W-U' 


1' 


INDIA  AND  ITS  MILLIONS 


BY 


REV.  DENNIS  OSBORNE, 


MUSSOORIK,    INDIA. 


WITH  POR  TRAIT  AND  PHO  TO  TYPES. 


PHILADELPHIA, 

GRANT  &  FAIRES, 
1884. 


Kntered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  18S4,  by 

GRANT  &  FAIRES, 

in  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


V —  % 


Slom:i\  Set<v 


To  GEORGE   H.   STUART,   Esq., 

PHILADELPHIA. 

Honored  and  Beloved  Brother  : — 

I  cannot  deny  myself  the  pleasure  of  offering  to  you  this  little 
volume  of  Lectures  on  India.  Your  long  connection  with,  and  profound 
interest  in  the  progress  of  the  gospel  in  heathen  lands,  makes  such  a  dedication 
manifestly  appropriate,  while  my  deep  obligations  to  you  during  my  visit  to  this 
country,  and  the  closeness  and  tenderness  of  our  relations  which  your  generous 
sympathy  and  active  help  have  inspired  and  encouraged,  make  this  a  peculiarly 
personal  and  precious  privilege. 

That  God  may  long  preserve  a  life  which  has  been  of  so  much  value  to  the 
cause  of  truth,  and  enricji  it  with  His  choicest  favors,  shall  ever  be  the  prayer 
of  your  much  attached  and  deeply  obliged  fellow-worker  in  the  Gospel, 

DENNIS  OSBORNE. 


Philadelphia,  September  5,  1884. 


V^    9 i, 


^^^fcnlSer^'^ 


PREFATORY    NOTE 


BY 


Bishop  William  Taylor, 


OF   THK 


METHODIST    EPISCOPAL   CHURCH. 


■  <» 


My  friend,  Dennis  Osborne,  was  the  min- 
isterial delegate  who  represented  the  South 
India  Conference  in  the  General  Conference 
recently  held  in  Philadelphia.  Born  in  the 
City  of  Benares,  the  most  holy  place  of  the 
Brahmans,  his  person  is  sacred  in  the  sight  of 
the  Hindus.  The  purity  of  his  heart,  the 
brilliancy  of  his  intellect,  the  symmetry  of  his 
character,  the  success  of  his  ministry,  the  elo- 
quence of  his  utterances,  mark  him  as  a  mar- 
velous man.       The  Presbyterian  missionaries  of 


VI  PREFATORY     NOTE. 


India  wrote  such  glowing  accounts  of  his  won- 
derful power  as  a  lecturer  to  Mr.  George  H. 
Stuart,  and  to  the  leading  Presbyterian  ministers 
of  Philadelphia,  that,  had  the-y  not  personally 
known  the  men  who  wrote,  they  would  not  have 
dared  to  publish  them.  They  did  publish  them, 
and  now  those  ministers  and  the  hearers  who 
thronged  their  churches  to  hear  the  distin- 
guished stranger,  together  with  the  professors 
and  students  of  Princeton  (whither  he  went  by 
special  invitation),  declare,  with  unanimity,  that 
the  lectures  greatly  exceed  the  fame  of  the 
lecturer.  At  the  request  of  many  persons, 
those  lectures,  beaming  with  real  life  and  poetic 
common  sense,  have  been  put  Into  book  form 
that  they  might  be  preserved,  and  placed  within 
reach    of  all    who    read. 

WiLLiAiNi  Taylor. 


CONTENTS. 


I. 

PAGE. 


Headlands  of  Indian  History i 


II. 


Vedism  ;    OR,   Speculative  Hinduism 30 

III. 
Ganga  Mai  ;    or,   Practical  Hinduism 75 

IV. 

Dal  Bhat  ;    or,  the  Hindu  at  Home 128 

V. 

Mission    Mosaics 177 


Vll 


I. 

HEADLANDS 


OF 


Indian  History 


India  : — Think  of  a  continent,  embracing  an  area  of 
one  million  four  hundred  and  seventy-four  thousand  six 
hundred  and  six  square  miles,  as  large  as  all  of  Europe 
together,  Russia  excluded ;  in  shape,  a  triangle,  with  its 
base  buried  under  the  snows  of  the  Himalayas,  the  apex 
within  a  few  degrees  of  the  equator,  the  two  sides  washed 
by  the  Bay  of  Bengal  and  the  Indian  Ocean.  The  area 
of  British  India  alone — that  is,  subject  to  the  crown  of 
England — is  twelve  times  that  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  seven  times  that  of  France.  The  position  of  this 
great  continent  is  commanding  and  suggestive  of  peculiar 
strength,  and  it  is  safe  to  affirm  that  it  has  been  the 
theatre  of  the  most  eventful  history  in  the  oldest  and 
most  extensive  quarter  of  the  globe. 

Its  physical  features  are  striking  and  beautiful.  Upon 
the  north  there  towers  up  the  lofty  mountain  wall,  known 
as  the  Himalayan  range.     For  fifteen   hundred  miles  it 


2  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

rears  its  barrier,  with  immovable  granite  for  a  foundation, 
and  glistening  snow  for  a  capstone.  More  than  a  score 
of  peaks  cleave  the  sky,  each  loftier  than  Mount  Blanc, 
the  Alpine  giant.  The  highest  summits  look  down  upon 
you  from  a  perpendicular  height  of  five  miles.  At  the 
feet  of  this  unparalleled  mountain  range,  fertile  valleys 
smile,  jungles  rustle  with  fierce  and  untamed  denizens, 
while  sparkling  streams  break  from  lofty  glaciers,  and 
rushing,  roaring  and  reverberating,  carry  beauty  and 
fertility  to  the  plains  below.  First,  the  grand  plateau  of 
Hindustan  proper,  a  mosaic  of  variegated  beauty,  elec- 
tric with  historic  associations ;  then  lower  down,  the 
Southland  known  as  the  Deccan,  girdled  with  hills  slop- 
ing down  in  steps  {ghauts)  to  the  sea. 

The  population  of  India,  even  for  a  country  so  vast, 
is  immense.  Two  hundred  and  sixty-three  millions, 
increasing  at  the  rate  of  a  half  per  cent,  per  annum.  Of 
this  population  more  than  two  hundred  and  sixty-one 
millions  are  non-Christians,  thus : 

Hindus 201,907,602 

Mahomedans 50,121,585 

Other  religions 9,108,179 

261,137,366 

In  natural  resources  and  wealth  of  product,  India  has 
nothing  to  fear  from  comparison  with  the  most  favored 
tracts.  Max  MuUer  says  :  "  If  I  were  to  look  over  the 
whole  earth  to  find  out  the  country  most  richly  endowed 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  3 

with  all  the  wealth,  power  and  beauty  that  nature  can 
bestow,  in  some  parts  a  very  paradise  on  earth,  I  should 
point  to  India."  This  eulogium  is  not  extravagant.  In 
respect  of  her  botanical  treasures,  her  zoological  products, 
her  harvests  of  field  and  garden  and  orchard,  her  wealth 
of  flower  and  foliage,  she  is  more  completely  the  epitome 
of  the  world  than  any  other  country.  The  soil  of  India, 
though  roughly  and  ungratefully  treated,  responds  to  the 
ploughshare's  call  with  singular  generosity.  The  treas- 
ures of  her  forests,  her  mines  and  her  mountains,  have 
enriched  nations.  The  overflow  of  her  wealth  has  raised 
bankrupt  kingdoms  to  affluence,  and  hungry  potentates 
have  eaten  of  the  crumbs  from  her  table,  and  become  fat. 
Her  own  governors  and  princes  snatched  one-half  if  not 
two-thirds  of  her  produce  as  their  own ;  the  present 
government  demands  one-third,  yet  the  generous  mother 
supports  her  numerous  offspring  upon  the  ample  residue 
of  her  produce. 

Is  this  great  country  the  abode  of  untutored  savages  ? 
On  the  contrary,  when  the  great  western  nations  were 
sitting  in  darkness  and  barbarism,  India  was  leading  the 
van  in  civilization,  culture  and  material  prosperity.  In 
mathematics,  science  and  philosophy,  her  sages  first 
mapped  out  the  path  of  progress.  Their  torches  first 
broke  the  darkness.  It  is  true  that  many  of  their  deduc- 
tions were  crude  and  erroneous,  but  they  prove  neverthe- 
less that  an  inquiring  mind  was  fluttering  in  the  breast  of 


4  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

India,  knocking  at  the  door  of  knowledge,  while  all  the 
world  around  lay  utterly  benumbed  and  dormant.  In 
metaphysical  subtlety,  in  mental  casuistic  science,  indeed, 
she  had  advanced  even  then  so  far,  that  the  fleetest  of 
her  pursuers  in  a  race  of  ages,  with  the  seven-leagued 
boots  of  nineteenth  century  progress,  have  not  overtaken 
her.  Much  of  the  glittering  idealism  of  the  present  day, 
is  only  the  time-worn  speculation  of  the  ancient  Hindu 
philosopher.  Disgusted  and  dissatisfied,  the  old  Indo 
Aryan  sage  threw  the  nauseating  compound  out  of 
doors  ;  the  modern  Anglo  Aryan  picks  it  up,  dusts  away 
the  cobwebs,  puts  a  glittering  label  on  it,  and  brings  it 
forth,  triumphantly,  as  a  brand-new  philosophy  of  his 
own  special  manufacture. 

Such  is  the  country,  and  such  the  people,  whose  life 
and  character  we  are  called  upon  to  explore.  Like  the 
configuration  of  the  continent  itself,  an  uncertain  sea 
rolls  along  the  main  sides  of  her  history,  a  sea  of  myth 
and  legend,  with  waves  of  opaline  hue  which  dazzle,  yet 
fail  to  illumine.  Looking  out  upon  this  "waste  of 
waters,"  we  fix  our  eyes  upon  some  sturdy  headlands 
which  rise  from  its  surface,  and  following  their  rough 
outlines,  strive  to  map  the  form  of  the  immense  yet 
invisible  coast  line. 

What  is  that  distant  and  shadowy  crag  standing  out 
in  dim  outline  against  the  sky,  at  whose  feet  the  waves 
of  thirty-three  centuries  break?     It  is  the  first  tradition 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  5 

of  Hindu  history  presented  in  the  great  epic  poem 
known  as  the  Maha  Bharata,  whose  scenes  date  about 
B.  C,  1500.  The  Hindus  have  no  prose  history.  They 
have  names  which  can  be  compared  with  Homer,  Euri- 
pides and  Virgil,  but  none  that  can  be  compared  with 
Herodotus,  Thucydides,  or  Tacitus.  Ask  a  Hindu  for 
a  history  of  his  country,  and  he  puts  into  your 
hands  epic  and  mythological  poems  like  the  IMaha 
Bharata,  Ramayana  and  Puranas,  infinitely  more  ex- 
travagant and  less  credible  than  the  Aineid  and  Paradise 
Lost. 

The  oldest  of  these  records,  the  Maha  Bharata,  is 
embellished  with  the  warmest  coloring  of  oriental  imag- 
ination, and  it  is  impossible  to  separate  fact  from  fable, 
legend  from  history.  It  is  useful,  however,  as  giving  the 
earrliest  account  of  the  administration  and  institutions  of 
those  early  times.  The  Rajputs  (literally  sons  of  Rajas, 
or  kings)  were  the  soldier  tribe  of  ancient  India,  and 
represented  kingly  authority  and  conquering  power.  The 
truest  type  of  the  powerful  Aryan  (noble)  stock,  they 
soon  established  a  dominant  sway  over  the  aborginal  or 
pre-Aryan  races,  and  established  kingdoms  with  feudal 
institutions  like  that  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages.'  The 
^  Raja  was  ruler  or  sovereign  of  his  own  kingdom  ;  he 
was  supported  by  hereditary  crown  lands,  and  protected 
by  a  military  following  of  greater  or  less  strength.  His 
nobles  were  chiefs  of  principalities  with  their  own  retain- 


O  HEADLANDS   OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

ers  and  dependents,  who,  in  time  of  need,  were  at  the 
command  of  the  Raja.  There  were  constant  feuds 
between  the  Rajas  of  neighbouring  kingdoms,  and  the 
sceptre  of  temporary  supremacy  passed  from  hand  to 
hand  according  to  the  strength  of  the  grip  which  swayed 
it.  This  supreme  power  was,  for  the  time  being,  the 
Suzerain  or  Sovereign  to  whom  the  lesser  dignities  paid 
homage  and  allegiance.  While  these  dignities  strove, 
sword  in  hand,  for  the  mastery,  evolving  ephemeral 
kingdoms  and  conquests,  the  grinding  task  of  cultivating 
the  soil  devolved  upon  the  rough  peasantry,  who  were 
defrauded  of  their  rights  by  oppressive  exactions,  if  not 
by  positive  plunder. 

The  great  poem  already  named,  begins  with  the 
exploits  of  Bharata,  a  mythical  hero,  who  is  said  to  have 
conquered  all  India.  Of  course,  he  had  a  romantic 
history.  His  mother  was  the  heroine  Sakantala,  the 
wife  of  Raja  Rashyanta,  who  cruelly  deserted  his  spouse 
before  Bharata  was  born.  The  queen  brought  up  her 
son  in  the  jungle,  where  he  was  seen  by  his  father  years 
afterwards,  playing  with  lions.  The  old  Raja,  recognizing 
his  son,  received  his  spouse  into  his  favor,  and  thus 
Bharata  became  the  prince  royal  of  the  kingdom,  and  on 
his  father's  death,  assumed  the  sceptre  which  he  swept 
on  every  side  with  a  mighty  hand. 

Another  epic  poem,  called  the  Ramayana,  furnishes  a 
later  glimpse   of   Hindu    rule   and   society,  and   mainly 


HEADLANDS   OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  7 

strengthens  the   dim   outlines   of   the  previous  record.* 
One  change   is  manifest,  and  that  is  full  of  significance. 
In  the  oldest  poem,  there  is  recognition  of  the  four  dis- 
tinctive castes  of  Kshatriyas  (soldiers),  Brahmans  (priests), 
Vaisyas  (merchants),  and  Sudras  (common   people),  and 
these  relative  grades  appear  as  here  given,  the  brahmans 
being  represented  as  inferior  to  the  soldier  caste.     In  the 
latter  poem,  the  priestly  caste  is  designedly  represented  as 
supreme,  and  thus  sacerdotal  craft,  casting  aside  disguise, 
boldly  assumes  the  sceptre  of  universal  supremacy,  under 
whose  iron  sway  the  religious  and  political   life  of  India 
has  writhed  in  torture  for  more  than  three  thousand  years. 
These  early  rocks   are  black   with   the    corrosion  of 
religious  putridity.     Idolatry,  with  its  attendant  cruelties 
and    superstitions,    caste    bigotries    and   a   domineering 
sacerdotalism,  with  blacker  shades  as  the  headlands  come 
nearer  to  us,  darken  these  ancient  records  and  shew  both 
the  antiquity  and   the  intensity  of  the   evil.     The  next 
rock,  nearer  and  more  distinct,  yet  still  wrapt  in  shadows, 
represents  the  great  reaction  against  Brahmanism,  led  by 
Buddha    Goutama,   about    500    B.    C.      The    religious 
aspect  and  influence  of  this    reformation   will   be  dwelt 
on  in  its  proper  place.f      It   is    sufficient   here  to   say 

*  These  poems  bear  to  the  Hindu  more  interest  religiously  than  they  do 
politically  or  historically.  A  synopsis  of  their  contents,  as  related  to 
systematic  Hinduism,  will  be  found  in  its  proper  place. 

I  Lecture  IL 


8  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

that  its  political  influence  was  deep  and  far-reaching. 
Buddhism  artfully  pushed  its  wedges  into  the  yawning 
crevices  of  the  old  system,  which  crumbled  on  every 
side ;  crowns  and  kingdoms  bowed  to  its  politico-relig- 
ious power,  until,  under  King  Asoka,  250  B.  C,  a  consol- 
idated empire  with  a  religious  substratum,  rears  its  bold 
headland-front  above  the  uncertain  waves. 

Of  this  period,  however,  we  have  no  certain  and  con- 
tinuous history.  Great  names  we  have,  names  of 
renowned  conquerors  and  great  kings,  but  all  is  hope- 
lessly intertwined  with  legendary  extravagance,  defying 
all  historical  analysis. 

A  long  period  of  national  existence  is  thus  passed  over 
unmarked  and  uncharted.  Kingdoms  were  consolidated 
and  broken  up ;  independent  but  petty  chieftenships 
coalesced  into  mighty  sovereignty  under  vigorous  hands, 
and  again  melted  away  under  improvident  or  impotent 
successors ;  a  high  order  of  civilization  reached  its  climax, 
and  then  flowed  backward  upon  itself;  the  wheel  of 
progress  obeyed  the  mighty  impulse,  and  carried  the 
people  on  to  the  gates  of  national  prosperity,  when,  struck 
by  the  narrow  bigotry  of  a  selfish  priesthood,  they 
rolled  backward,  carrying  the  people  down  to  the  lowest 
water-mark  of  moral  and  intellectual  life. 

Thus  weakened  and  divided,  the  Hindus  tempted 
foreign  invasion.  Custodians  of  the  accumulations  of 
centuries,  the  key  of  the  vast  treasure-house  trembled 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  9 

in  palsied  hands.  In  the  eleventh  century  of  our  era, 
the  Mahomedan  invader,  Mahmud  of  Ghazni,  darted 
down  from  the  rugged  mountains  of  Afghanistan  upon 
the  paralyzed  nation  and  wrested  the  key  from  the  feeble 
grip  of  the  Hindu.  In  twenty-five  years  he  overran  the 
wealthy  plains  of  India  no  less  than  twelve  times,  at  each 
expedition  carrying  away  treasures  and  slaves,  until  his 
own  capital  in  Ghazni  sparkled  with  plundered  gold  and 
gems,  and  Hindu  slaves  could  not  find  purchasers  in  his 
markets  at  a  dollar  apiece  !  Mahmud  forced  the  famous 
temple  of  Somnath,  in  Western  India,  after  a  sanguinary 
resistance,  with  hope  of  finding  rare  treasures.  Entering 
the  temple,  he  beheld  a  huge  wooden  pillar  for  an  idol, 
which  the  priests  were  anxious  to  ransom,  but  found  no 
spoils.  Disappointed  and  incensed,  Mahmud  struck  the 
pillar  violently  with  his  mace,  when,  breaking  to  pieces, 
out  fell  a  great  heap  of  rubies  and  diamonds  which  had 
been  secreted  there.  In  1157,  the  Mahomedan  conquer- 
ors subjugated  the  Hindu  states  of  Ajmer,  Behar,  Bengal 
and  Oudh.  Incessant  warfare  followed.  Storm  after 
storm  of  encroachment,  invasion  and  conquest  succeeded, 
with  all  their  dire  entailments  of  distress,  degradation 
and  disaster.  All  Nothern  India  lay  at  the  feet  of  the 
conquerors  ;  in  the  Deccan  or  South  alone,  a  hardy  clan, 
the  Mahrattas,  struggled  desperately  for  independence, 
not  without  success. 

It  was  in  this  political  condition   that  the   British  rule 


10  HEADLANDS   OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

bc<^an  in  India.  It  grew  out  of  a  trading  company.  The 
first  English  company  for  trading  with  East  India  was 
formed  in  1599,  during  the  reign  of  Queen  EHzabeth  in 
Enghuid,  and  the  Great  Mogal,  Akbar,  in  India.  The 
charter  was  issued  in  1600.  The  first  Enghsh  factory 
was  estabHslied  at  Surat,  on  the  western  sea  board. 
Bombay,  the  great  trade  gate  of  India,  then  an  insignifi- 
cant town,  was  shortly  added.  In  Bengal,  a  small  factory 
at  Hooghly  was  opened  later  on,  and  thereafter  removed 
to  Calcutta,  then  but  a  cluster  of  squalid  villages.  The 
first  soil  actually  possessed  by  the  British  in  India  w^as 
the  present  site  of  Madras;  it  was  acquired  by  purchase, 
and  measured  six  miles  long  and  one  broad.  Thus 
trading  was  begun  and  vigorously  carried  on  at  each  of 
the  several  important  sea-ports  of  India.  Small  forces 
of  European  troops  were  maintained  at  each  of  these 
factories  for  purposes  of  self-defence.  Governmental  and 
administrative  functions  were  exercised  within  the  limits 
of  the  British  possessions.  The  first  and  only  design  of 
the  foreign  settlers  up  to  this  was  money-making ;  but 
a  train  of  unforeseen  events  swept  them  onward,  and 
resulted  in  the  consolidation  of  an  empire. 

It  was  in  Madras  that  the  English  were  first  involved 
in  war.  The  French,  who  were  in  the  country  before 
them,  jealous  of  their  rising  prosperity,  determined  to 
drive  them  out.  A  long  battle  for  existence  followed. 
The   daring   and    resourcefulness    of  Clive,  then   but  a 


HEADLANDS   OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  II 

young  captain,  but  destined  hereafter  to  be  the  founder 
of  the  British  Empire  in  India,  frustrated  the  enemy,  and 
dispelled  for  ever  their  dream  of  a  French  Empire  in  the 
East. 

Difficulties,  however,  soon  arose  in  the  North.  The 
Nabob  of  Bengal,  enraged  by  the  most  moderate  and 
rational  resistance  by  the  English  of  his  despotic 
demands,  marched  upon  Calcutta  in  1756,  with  fifty 
thousand  troops.  The  post  surrendered  after  a  siege  of 
four  days.  The  governor  and  military  commander  with 
the  women  and  children  retreated  to  the  shipping.  The 
remainder  of  the  European  residents,  one  hundred  and 
forty-six  in  all,  were  thrust  into  a  guard-room,  eighteen 
feet  square,  and  all  but  twenty-three  smothered  to  death. 
This  is  remembered  as  the  tragedy  of  the  "  black  hole 
of  Calcutta." 

Clive  was  sent  from  Madras  to  avenge  the  catastrophe. 
On  2d  January,  1757,  he  retook  Calcutta,  and  on  23d 
June,  fought  the  decisive  battle  of  Plassey.  The  Nabob 
marshalled  a  force  of  thirty-five  thousand  foot,  fifteen 
thousand  horse  and  fifty  guns.  The  English  had  but 
three  thousand  men  and  eight  guns.  No  wonder  even 
Clive  hesitated.  Failure  meant  destruction,  extinction. 
In  the  council  of  war,  Clive  himself  voted  against  fight- 
ing. This  was  the  first  and  the  last  council  of  war  he 
ever  held.  In  the  night,  while  musing  in  a  mango  grove, 
he  resolved  to   strike.     Next  morning,  he  set  his  little 


12  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

force  boldly  in  motion,  and  bore  down  impetuously  upon 
his  unwieldy  foe.  A  short  but  sanguinary  struggle 
ensued,  and  the  field  was  won.  The  opposing  general 
was  killed,  the  Nabob  fled  on  his  swiftest  dromedary, 
and  the  smoke  of  the  battle  field  broke  upon  a  dawnin"- 
empire.  This  great  victory  virtually  made  the  English 
masters  of  India. 

A'hundred  years  of  eventful  history  follow.  On  the" 
part  of  the  English,  enlarged  conquests  and  broad  acces- 
sions of  territory,  often  necessary  and  lawful,  but  some- 
times culpable  if  not  positively  criminal.  The  consolida- 
tion of  a  kw  trading  factories  into  a  vast  and  powerful 
empire ;  the  establishment  of  administrative  institutions 
commensurate  with  the  vast  territory  and  its  manifold 
exigencies  ;  the  equipment  of  a  large  and  well-disciplined 
army,  with  a  strong  preponderation  of  native  soldiery ; 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the  extension  of  the 
various  appliances  of  civilized  life,  are  the  chief  features 
of  that  century  of  British  domination  and  power  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Hon.  East  India  Company.  But  that 
century  was  a  period  of  probation  and  opportunity  for 
higher  ends.  Christian  in  name  and  by  profession, — was 
there  no  object  loftier  than  mere  gain  and  material  culture 
in  the  providential  giving  over  of  this  great  Eastern  nation 
to  England?  Assuredly  there  was,  and  this  could  be 
nothing  else  or  less  than  that  the  nation  so  long 
enthralled  in  heathen  bondage  should  be  released  from 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  1 3 

captivity  by  the  missionary  zeal  and  fidelity  of  its  pro- 
fessedly Christian  governors. 

Was  this  purpose  fulfilled  ?  The  shameful  complicities 
with  heathen  rites  and  idolatrous  ceremonies,  the  frequent 
sacrifice  of  principle  at  the  shrine  of  mercenary  policy, 
the  positive  hindrances  to  missionary  effort,  compelling 
the  first  pioneers  of  the  mission  field  to  seek  the  protec- 
tion of  foreign  flags,  and  retarding  the  labors  of  their 
successors  after  they  had  made  good  their  footing,  furnish 
the  sad  and  significant  answer.  A  hundred  years  of 
probation,  and  of  unfaithfulness  ;  of  opportunity  misused 
and  advantage  abused  !  What  wonder  that  the  whelming 
tempest  was  loosed,  and  a  hurricane  of  fire  swept  over 
the  unfaithful  administration  ?  * 

To  the  devout  student  of  history,  the  finger  of  flame 
which,  in  1857,  moved  across  the  dark  firmament  of 
Indian  history,  wrote  in  no  uncertain  characters  the  doom 
of  retributive  dissolution,  Tekel,  **  weighed   in   the  bal- 

*The  Rt.  Rev.  D.  Wilson,  Bishop  of  Calcutta  and  Metropolitan  of 
India,  in  a  sermon  preached  in  1857,  upon  the  great  Rebellion,  points  out 
the  delinquency  of  the  ruling  power  in  such  forcilile  language,  as  follows  : 

"  India  would  seem  to  have  been  ruled  too  much  in  fonner  times  on  the 
theory  that  God  is  not  the  Governor  of  the  world,  but  that  Satan  is  the 
power  whom  it  is  wiser  and  safer  to  fear.  I  fear  we  have  too  much  con- 
tinued in  the  spirit,  if  not  in  the  acts  of  our  fathers.  Even  in  our  own 
times,  I  remember  well  the  struggle  of  twenty  long  years  under  the  great 
and  eminent  Wilberforce,  that  was  necessary  to  secure  a  free  admission  of 
our  Missionaries  into  India.     I  remember  the  cruel  treatment  of   Dr.  and 


14  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

ance  and  found  wanting!"  The  conflagration  was  sudden 
and  signal.  Exactly  a  hundred  years  from  Plassey,  the 
nation  arose  to  cast  off  the  yoke  of  foreign  rule.  The 
reasons  for  this  general  movement  are  disputed.  It  is 
clear,  however,  that  a  long  remembrance  of  wrongs  and 
injuries,  fomented  by  interested  partisans,  native  and 
foreign,  was  at  the  bottom  of  this  widespread  and  dis- 
astrous rebellion.  This  spirit  seized  the  opportunity 
which  a  pampered  and  disaffected  native  army  afforded, 
and  employed  the  inflammable  match  of  religious  fanatic- 
ism to  strike  the  flame.  Rumors  that  the  government 
were  determined  to  destroy  the  caste  of  the  native 
soldiery  were  studiously  propagated,  and  soon  the  secret 
fanaticism  of  the  whole  race  was  fired. 

That  a  secret  combination  of  great  strength  was 
maturing  to  overthrow  the  British  rule  by  a  simultaneous 
uprising  throughout  the  empire,  now  appears  all  but 
certain.     If  such  a  concerted  attempt  had  been  made,  it 

Mrs.  Judson,  whom  I  knew  at  Moulmein ;  the  forced  resort  of  Dr.  Carey 
and  his  pious  companions  to  the  Danish  settlement  of  Serampore ;  the 
prohibition  to  Dr.  Buchanan  to  publish  his  sermons  on  the  prophecies ;  the 
disgraceful  delay  in  disconnecting  Government  with  the  pilgiimages  to 
Juggarnath;  and  the  salutes  to  idols  and  other  cennonies  at  Madras,  which 
compelled  the  noble  and  brave  Sir  Peregrine  Maitland  to  resign.  Even 
my  amiable  and  beloved  friend  and  brother  Bishop  Corrie  was  rebuked  by 
the  Madras  Government,  in  1836,  for  the  mildest  exercise  of  what  he  con- 
sidered his  appropriate  duty  in  expressing  his  sympathy  with  Sir  Peregrine 
on  that  occasion." 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  1 5 

is  difficult  to  conceive  how  the  English  power  could 
have  survived  the  attack.  The  danger  was  all  the 
greater  since  an  infatuation  of  security  and  confidence 
in  the  native  soldiery,  completely  lulled  the  authorities 
to  sleep,  and  totally  disarmed  vigilance.  The  idea  of  a 
widespread  and  thoroughly  organized  insurrection  seems 
never  to  have  occurred  to  those  in  power.  Though 
signs  of  the  coming  storm  abounded,  they  were  disre- 
garded and  misinterpreted  by  an  indolent  conceit;  indeed, 
when  the  storm  had  broken,  the  first  preparations  were 
childishly  inadequate  to  the  emergency. 

A  watchful  and  overruling  Providence  mercifully  broke 
the  concerted  force  of  the  assault.  The  outbreak  among 
the  native  soldiery  was  precipitated  at  Meerut,  a  large 
military  cantonment  in  Northwest  India,  close  to  the  old 
Mogal  capital  of  Delhi !  Here,  some  native  troopers  had 
been  imprisoned  for  mutinous  conduct,  and  on  the  next 
day,  Sunday,  lOth  May,  three  thousand  native  troops  rose 
in  open  revolt.  They  murdered  their  officers,  fired  the 
houses  of  the  European  residents,  flung  open  the  doors 
of  the  criminal  jails,  and  then  marched  off  to  Delhi,  where 
they  laid  their  arms  and  standard  at  the  feet  of  the  old 
relic  of  the  Mogal  dynasty,  Bahadur  Shah,  and  saluted 
him  Emperor  of  India.  A  large  European  force  stood 
paralyzed  and  motionless,  unable  to  act  *because  of 
the  incapacity  of  its  commander.  In  Delhi,  the  large 
native  soldiery  rebelled  to  a  man,  and  the  slender  British 


l6  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

force  and  the  European  residents  with  the  women  and 
children,  were  either  destroyed,  or  had  to  flee  for  their 
lives.  Thus  the  rebelHon  received  a  centre  and  an 
inspiration ;  and  Delhi  became  the  capital  of  national 
crime. 

Meanwhile,  the  flames  spread  far  and  w^ide.  All 
Northern  India  was  on  fire.  Station  after  station  followed 
the  example,  and  the  native  soldieiy,  after  the  usual  dis- 
plays of  lawlessness,  cruelty  and  rapacity,  marched  on  to 
Delhi  to  swell  the  ranks  of  mutiny. 

In  the  Panjab,  the  land  of  the  five  rivers,  John  Law- 
rence, the  sagacious  statesman,  the  stern  soldier,  the 
devout  Christian,  held  the  reins  of  government,  and  was 
the  first  to  apprehend  the  seriousness  of  the  situation. 
With  a  vigorous  and  unfaltering  hand,  he  disarmed  the 
Sepoy  regiments  in  the  Panjab,  and  dismissed  the  troops 
to  their  homes.  In  Lahore,  the  capital  of  the  Panjab, 
four  thousand  sepoys  were  so  ably  manoeuvered  in  the 
presence  of  a  mere  handful  of  armed  Europeans,  that 
they  were  compelled  to  pile  their  arms  and  retire.  Thus, 
maintaining  order  in  his  own  territory,  he  organized 
Regiments  of  native  Shikh  *  soldiers,  and  sent  them  on 
with  all    the    European    troops   he  could  spare,  for  the 

*  The  Shikhs  are  the  inhabitants  of  the  Panjab,  totally  different  in  relig- 
ion and  race  from  the  ordinary  Hindu.  They  are  singularly  warlike  and 
brave ;  and  throughout  the  terrible  ordeal  of  the  Sepoy  mutiny,  staunchly 
maintained  their  fidelity  to  the  English. 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  1 7 

capture  of  Delhi.  "  On,  on  to  Delhi,"  was  his  constant 
cry.  It  has  been  truly  said,  "  To  John  Lawrence,  more 
than  to  any  other,  more  than  to  thousands  of  others,  was 
owing  the  conquest  of  Delhi,  and  the  safety  of  the  whole 
Northwest.  * 

In  a  conflagration  so  wide  and  so  disastrous,  it  is  not 
easy  to  fix  the  eye  upon  particular  places  or  events.  But 
a  few  of  the  chief  incidents  of  this  national  convulsion 
demand  notice. 

Cawnpore  is  a  city  of  great  commercial  importance  in 
the  northwest  of  India,  on  the  river  Ganges.  Here,  at 
the  time  of  the  rebellion,  there  was  a  strong  body  of 
native  soldiery,  a  slender  European  force,  and  a  large 
community  of  English  residents.  A  few  miles  distant, 
at  his  country-seat  of  Bithoor,  there  dwelt  a  disappointed 
relic  of  the  old  Mahratta  dynasty,  known  as  Nana  Sahib. 
He  was  the  illegitimate  son  of  the  old  prince,  and  had 
inherited  his  riches,  although  denied  his  pension  by  the 
British  government.  He  accordingly  indulged  the  venom 
of  a  bitter  spite  against  the  English,  although  outwardly 
their  warmest  friend. 

When  the  flame  of  rebellion  began  to  spread  through 
the  northern  plains  of  India,  General  Wheeler,  who 
commanded  the  Cawnpore  garrison,  cast  up  a  light 
entrenchment  of  earth  around  two  or  three  barracks,  and 
manned  it  with  a  few  guns.     The  Nana  Sahib  made  pro- 

*  Trotter's  History  of  India. 


1 8  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

fesslons  of  warm  friendship,  and  promised  a  Mahratta 
force  should  the  EngHsh  be  threatened.  At  last  the 
dreaded  day  came;  the  sepoy  regiments  rose  to  a  man, 
committed  the  usual  atrocities,  and  then  marched  on 
toward  Delhi.  The  European  community  meanwhile 
retired  into  their  hastily  improvised  entrenchment.  And 
now  the  arch-traitor.  Nana,  throwing  off  his  disguise, 
followed  the  mutinous  soldiers,  and  persuaded  them — 
with  extravagant  offers  of  booty, — to  lay  siege  to  the 
British  defences.  On  June  6th,  the  whole  host,  aug- 
mented by  thousands  of  armed  and  lawless  rabble, 
invested  the  entrenchments ;  and,  erecting  batteries, 
opened  a  heavy  fire  upon  it.  Three  weeks  of  unpar- 
alleled gallantry  and  suffering  on  the  part  of  the  defenders 
followed.  Fourteen  heavy  guns  kept  up  an  incessant 
fire,  to  which  the  English  could  respond  with  only  eight 
field  pieces.  The  terrible  sun  of  a  June  summer,  and 
the  constant  fear  of  the  approaching  rain^  added  to  their 
multiplied  distresses.  One  barrack  was  burnt  down  over 
their  heads,  while  the  others  were  thoroughly  riddled 
with  shot  and  shell. 

So  hopeless  was  their  condition,  that  when  the  Nana 
Sahib  proposed  terms  of  safe  and  honorable  capitulation, 
they  were  eagerly  received.  He  offered  to  provide  boats 
to  carry  the  European  garrison,  with  the  women  and 
children,  to  Allahabad,  on  condition  that  the  entrench- 
ments were  evacuated,  and  all  arms  and  treasure  surren- 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  IQ 

dered.  On  the  27th  June,  the  worn-out  but  gallant  defend- 
ers left  their  defences,  and  with  hopeful  hearts  marched 
down  to  the  river-side  where  the  boats  were  moored.  No 
sooner  embarked,  however,  than  some  guns  which  had 
been  planted  in  ambuscade  were  run  out  and  opened  fire 
upon  the  helpless  garrison.  Many  fell  to  rise  no  more. 
The  survivors  were  then  drawn  upon  the  beach,  and  the 
males  instantly  destroyed.  The  women  and  children  were 
driven  off  to  a  place  of  confinement  in  the  native  city. 

Meanwhile,  a  relieving  force,  under  General  Henry 
Havelock,  was  advancing  upon  the  city.  Although 
much  impeded,  it  was  now  even  upon  the  threshold. 
Thrice  did  the  Nana  essay  to  give  the  irresistible  English 
battle,  and  thrice  was  he  miserably  defeated.  At  last,  on 
the  15th  July,  the  traitorous  miscreant  collected  his 
spoils  together  and  prepared  to  flee.  But  before  going, 
he  perpetrated  the  most  diabolical  act  of  his  fiend-like 
career;  he  ordered  the  massacre  of  the  incarcerated 
women  and  children.  The  terrible  order  was  barbarously 
carried  out ;  with  gun-shot,  sword  and  hatchet  that  help- 
less company  was  dispatched  at  nightfall.  In  the  morn- 
ing, the  ruthless  butchers  again  visited  the  chamber  of 
blood,  and  actually  found  some  who  had  survived  the 
night.  Then  dragging  the  living  with  the  dead,  they 
piled  up  the  bodies  of  their  victims,  two  hundred  in  all, 
in  a  well  in  the  court-yard.  Upon  that  well  stands 
to-day,  a  beautiful  monument,  with  a  peculiarly  touching 


20  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

and  appropriate  inscription,  erected  by  the  English  gov- 
ernment. 

When,  a  Httle  later,  Havelock's  soldiers  rushed  into  the 
city,  they  visited  this  chamber  of  blood.  Curdled  with 
horror,  they  stood  transfixed.  The  rooms  were  slippery 
with  blood.  Sword-cuts  upon  the  walls,  carrying  away 
many  a  fair  tress  of  hair.  Leaves  of  Bibles,  and  pocket 
books,  with  touching  notes  and  thrilling  mementoes. 
The  hardy  veterans  could  stand  it  no  longer.  Kneeling 
upon  the  floor,  and  placing  their  dirk  between  their 
teeth,  the  veterans  of  the  79th  Highlanders  vowed 
vengeance  against  the  ruthless  assassins  !  That  vow,  so 
terribly  made,  was  terribly  kept. 

Disasters  like  this  spread  dejection  and  dismay 
throughout  the  British  possessions.  Rebellion  reigned 
rampant.  The  common  people,  in  immense  hordes, 
committed  the  most  awful  depredations,  and  joined  the 
insurgents.  Native  states  and  princes,  who  had  been  our 
allies,  now  either  openly  espoused  the  enemy,  or  faltered 
in  their  professions  of  friendship.  Fearful  atrocities  were 
committed  in  Fatehgarh,  Jhansi,  Bareilly,  and  many 
other  places.  Agra,  the  seat  of  the  local  government, 
was  threatened ;  two  battles  were  fought  in  sight  of  the 
stone  fortress,  where,  for  thirteen  months,  the  English 
force  and  residents  were  incarcerated.  All  along  the  line 
of  British  rule  the  battle  raged,  and  fire,  blood  and 
desolation  marked  the  track  of  the  fiend-like  mutineers. 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  21 

The  eye  of  all  India  was,  however,  fixed  upon  Delhi. 
A  British  force  assembled,  as  early  as  June,  upon  the 
heights  above  the  fort,  but  they  were  more  besieged  than 
besieging.  The  city  was  strongly  fortified  and  garrisoned 
by  more  than  thirty  thousand  well-disciplined  troops  ; 
while  all  around,  the  country  was  up  in  arms  against  the 
foreign  rule.  Reinforcements,  including  a  strong  siege 
train,  having  arrived  on  the  7th  September,  four  batteries, 
with  fifty  heavy  guns  and  mortars,  opened  a  deadly  fire 
upon  the  Mogal  citadel.  On  the  13th,  two  breaches 
were  reported  practicable.  The  assault  was  made  next 
day.  Only  six  thousand  men  could  be  reckoned  on 
for  this  service  of  danger.  Divided  into  four  parties, 
with  another  as  a  reserve,  the  storming  force  swept 
onward  like  an  avalanche.  Hundreds  fell  under  the 
murderous  musketry,  or  were  cut  down  hand  to 
hand.  No  quarters  were  asked  or  given.  Deeds  of 
daring  and  gallantry  were  too  profuse  to  be  marked  as 
special.  One  of  the  most  heroic  spirits  was  the  accom- 
plished Nicholson,  to  whom  that  day  had  been  confided 
the  post  of  honor  and  of  danger.  This  was  to  blow 
open  the  Cashmere  gate,  and  then  to  storm  the  city  at 
its  most  deadly  side.  The  day  ended ;  the  gate  was 
blown  open,  the  storming  was  a  complete  success,  but 
the  brave  Nicholson  had  fallen  at  the  head  of  his  gallant 
column. 

The  city  cost  six  such  days  of  fighting  before   it  was 


22  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

captured.  Hand  to  hand,  foot  to  foot,  bayonet  clashing 
against  the  gleaming  tahvdr,  street  by  street,  lane  after 
lane,  the  conflict  raged  ;  but  at  last  the  British  ensign 
floated  over  the  citadel ;  and  the  capital  of  the  nation's 
rebellion  lay  prostrate  at  the  feet  of  the  conquerors. 
That  siege  and  capture  cost  the  English  three  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  thirty-seven  of  her  bravest  troops  ; 
but  the  moral  effect  of  the  victory  was  incalculable.  If 
Delhi  had  not  speedily  fallen,  all  India  would  have  been 
up  in  arms,  and  the  English  rule  exterminated.  With 
its  fall,  British  prestige  and  power  revived,  and  the  dread 
rebellion  received  a  crushing  blow. 

Lucknow  was  another  strong  centre  of  insurrection. 
It  is  the  capital  city  of  Oudh,  the  then  most  recently 
annexed  province  in  India,  and  the  den  of  anarchy  and 
lawlessness.  Having  contributed  more  than  two-thirds 
of  the  Sepoy  regiments  from  its  cities  and  villages,  it 
could  not  but  have  the  strongest  sympathy  with  the 
spirit  of  revolt ;  while  the  wealthy  land-holders  and 
native  princes,  smarting  under  the  effects  of  the  recent 
annexations  to  British  rule,  stood  ready  to  foment  and 
encourage  this  spirit  to  its  farthest  length.  The  strong 
hand  which  governed  this  province,  Henry  Lawrence, 
brother  of  John  Lawrence  of  the  Panjab,  ably  provided 
for  the  coming  emergency,  while  averting  the  storm  as 
long  as  it  could  possibly  be  restrained. 

At  last  the   fearful   hurricane  was  unloosed,  and  the 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  23 

British  garrison,  with  the  EngHsh  residents,  were  beseiged 
in  the  fortified  premises  known  as  the  Residency. 
Around  them,  panted  and  bayed  tens  of  thousands  of 
blood-thirsty  soldiery,  armed  and  fully  equipped.  The 
whole  country  besides  was  in  arms,  and  the  prospect  of 
the  besieged  was  anything  but  cheering.  Very  soon 
after,  Henry  Lawrence  received  a  mortal  wound,  and 
while  sinking  back  upon  the  couch  of  death,  uttered  the 
just  epitaph  for  his  tomb,  *T  have  tried  to  do  my  duty." 
His  last  advice  to  his  successor  was :  "  Whatever  you 
do,  never  surrender." 

Well  did  those  upon  whose  shoulders  the  chivalrous 
mantle  of  Henry  Lawrence  fall,  obey  the  injunction. 
For  four  whole  months  the  siege  was  fiercely  pressed, 
and  as  gallantly  defended.  Assaults,  storming  parties 
and  mines  were  all  tried,  but  in  vain.  The  garrison, 
greatly  thinned  in  numbers,  worn  with  fatigue,  depressed 
with  a  vain  and  weary  waiting  for  relief  which  never 
seemed  to  come,  still  held  out. 

Meanwhile,  the  gallant  Havelock  and  the  chivalrous 
Outram  were  pressing  forward  to  the  rescue,  with  all  the 
haste  possible  through  an  armed  and  hostile  country.  It 
was  constant  fighting,  a  charging  through  foes  w^ho, 
though  beaten  back  again  and  again,  ever  surged  to  the 
front,  in  numbers  whelming  and  terrible.  At  last,  on  the 
25th  September,  the  head  of  the  relieving  columns,  liter- 
ally cleaving  its  way  through  obstructing  foes,  appeared 


24  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

at  the  gate  of  the  Residency.  What  a  moment!  The 
feeble  garrison  smiled  with  hope  once  more ;  even  the 
wounded  crawled  out  of  their  beds  and  took  the  swarthy 
hands  of  their  deliverers.  As  to  these  gallant  men,  they 
danced  and  wept  and  sang  as  they  clasped  the  hands  of 
the  worn  men  and  pale-cheeked  women,  and  tossed  the 
children  in  the  air  in  sheer  exhilaration  and  delieht. 
Then  a  shout  from  the  victors,  feebly  joined  in  by  the 
enfeebled  garrison,  rent  the  air  and  told  the  rebels  that 
they  had  been  balked  of  their  prey ! 

Although  relieved,  the  garrison  with  their  deliverers 
were  constrained  to  stand  another  siege,  until,  in 
November,  they  were  finally  borne  out  of  the  Resi- 
dency by  the  strong  force  of  Sir  Colin  Campbell.  The 
gallant  Havelock,  the  heroic  succourer  of  Cawnpore,  the 
deliverer  of  Lucknow^,  worn  out  with  fatigue,  here 
exchanged  the  equipm.ent  of  war  for  the  crown  of  the 
immortal  victor.  After  a  long  career  of  distinguished 
and  generous  heroism,  and  of  singular  Christian  fidelity 
and  usefulness,  he  was  borne  home  upon  the  shield  of  his 
faith  ;  his  last  words  being  to  his  son,  "  Come  hither,  my 
son,  and  see  how  a  Christian  can  die."  His  remains  lie 
in  Alambagh,  Lucknovv\  awaiting  the  resurrection  of  the 
just. 

The  mutiny  was  quelled,  not  extinguished.  The  fire 
still  smouldered,  here  and  there  breaking  out  into  flames, 
for  the  space  of  two  whole  years.     The  smoke  of  battle 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  2$ 

at  last  broke  upon  the  retreating  administration  of  the 
old  Trading-  Company,  and  the  inauguration  of  the  direct 
government  of  the  English  Crown.  Surely,  "  He  putteth 
down  one,  and  setteth  up  another." 

On  the  1st  January,  1877,  this  political  act  was  con- 
summated by  the  proclamation  of  Her  Majesty  Queen 
Victoria,  as  Empress  of  India.  This  was  done  at  an 
Imperial  Assemblage  of  the  native  potentates  and  princes, 
in  the  old  capital  of  Delhi.  It  was  an  imposing  gathering. 
In  the  presence  of  sixty-three  ruling  princes  (including 
the  Nizam  oi  Hyderabad,  the  Nawab  of  Tonk,  the  Begum 
of  BJiopdl,  the  Gaekwar  of  Baroda,  and  the  Maharajahs 
of  Gwalior,  Indorc,  Oodeypore,  Jcypore,  JodJiporc  and 
Bhurtporc),  and  three  hundred  titular  chiefs,  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  British  crown  in  India  was  proclaimed 
and  accepted.  This  event,  politically,  was  of  more 
importance  than  is  evident  upon  the  surface.  It  demon- 
strated to  the  native  rulers  of  India  a  tangible  govern- 
ment which  had  elements  of  power  and  permanence. 
The  E.  I.  Company  was  an  abstraction  which  the  native 
mind  could  not  comprehend,  and  the  very  fact  of  its 
being  a  trading  association  gave  it  a  tentative  aspect. 
But  more  than  this,  the  change  established  the  supremacy 
of  the  British  crown.  In  their  own  governmental  econ- 
omy there  was  provision  for  a  Suzerain  or  Sovereign, 
who  should  be  the  arbiter  of  destiny  to  the  neighbouring 
kingdoms.      This   position    is    now    demanded    by    and 


26  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

accorded  to  the  British  crown,  which  therefore  claims 
universal  attachment  and  allegiance. 

To  the  empire  itself,  the  change  has  been  one  of 
appreciable  benefit.  It  has  brought  India  and  its  admin- 
istration closer  to  England,  and  admitted  both  to  a  full 
and  free  hearing  in  Parliament.  It  has  proved  the  era 
of  signal  material  prosperity,  and  it  has  opened  the 
portals  for  missionary  labor  more  widely  than  before. 
The  missionaries  neither  ask  nor  expect  any  favors ;  they 
are  content  with  the  administration  which  evenhandedly 
places  them  upon  the  same  platform  with  the  religionists 
around  them.  This  rule  has,  on  the  whole,  been  honored 
by  the  crown,  although  instances  are  on  record  where 
opposition  and  interference  have  been  construed  as 
synonymous  with  neutrality. 

If  wrongs  and  injuries  towards  the  natives  of  India 
stained  the  former  administrations,  the  government  under 
the  crown  has  certainly  swung  to  the  opposite  extreme. 
A  system  of  conciliation  and  caressing  bordering  upon 
the  childishly  sentimental,  has  been  resorted  to  in  the 
hope,  doubtless,  of  winning  the  attachment  and  fidelity 
of  the  natives.  Preferments,  honors  and  opportunities 
have  been  extended  to  them,  from  which  the  European 
and  Anglo-Indian  subjects  of  the  crown  are  iniquitously 
debarred.  There  is  not  a  right-minded  man  but  would 
be  willing  that  equal  rights  and  opportunities  should  be 
extended  to  all  classes  of  British-Indian  subjects ;  but  a 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  2/ 

fawning  partiality  cannot  but  be  interpreted  as  an  index 
of  fear  by  the  recipients  of  the  favors,  and  lead  the 
injured  and  neglected  to  estrangement  of  heart  and 
alienation  of  interest  from  the  governing  power. 

From  the  preceding  political  survey  of  India,  the  fol- 
lowing" conclusions  are  unavoidable : 

1.  The  Hindu  in  his  present  environments,  is  incapable 
of  self-government.  He  has  had  a  trial  of  three  thou- 
sand years,  but  has  failed.  The  reason  of  failure  is  not  to 
be  looked  for  in  any  physical  or  mental  incapacity,  but  in 
the  disastrous  religious  systern  which  has  overshadowed 
the  nation.  The  caste-system  strikes  at  the  root  of 
national  cohesion  and  unity,  while  priestly  craft  and  arro- 
gance in  seeking  to  aggrandize  themselves,  deprive 
patriotism  of  its  loftiest  and  purest  inspiration.  If  the 
administration  of  the  country  were  placed  in  the  hands 
of  the  Hindu  to-day,  the  land  would  be  torn  with  fac- 
tions and  anarchy,  and  the  supreme  power  would  be  in 
the  market  at  the  command  of  the  deepest  craft  and  most 
subtle  cunning. 

2.  The  Mahomedan  usurper  has  equally  demonstrated 
his  incapability  to  govern  India.  A  selfish  sensuality 
makes  his  sceptre  nerveless  and  unstable.  From  Mah- 
mud  of  Ghazni  to  the  last  relic  of  the  Mogal  Empire, 
the  course  of  the  Mahomedan  invader  has  been  to  sacri- 
fice the  country  to  his  own  base  and  selfish  interests. 

3.  The  inauguration  and  extension  of  British  rule  in 


28  HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY. 

India,  arc  manifestly  in  accordance  with  the  Hne  of 
Divine  Providence,  and  therefore  on  the  whole  in  the 
best  interests  of  the  governed.  It  should  be  remembered 
that  the  British  did  not  wrest  the  sceptre  from  the  lawful 
rulers  of  India,  but  from  the  unprincipled  and  sordid 
usurpers,  and  this  only  when  no  alternative  remained, 
but  to  push  forward  to  conquest. 

4.  This  extension  of  rule  and  power,  however,  is  to  be 
looked  upon  as  the  opportunity,  divinely  vouchsafed,  for 
the  elevation  of  the  great  nation,  in  material  and  spiritual 
good.  If  this  end  be  not  fulfilled,  then  is  the  mission  of 
England,  with  all  its  grand  possibilities,  utterly  thwarted 
and  defeated. 

What  is  the  political  condition  of  India  to-day?  Under 
the  Suzerainty  of  the  British  crown,  native  prince  and 
potentate  dwell  securely.  Those  directly  subject  to 
English  rule  enjoy  the  blessings  of  good  and  safe  gov- 
ernment. Each  man  may  dwell  securely  under  his  own 
vine  and  fig  tree,  and  eat  of  the  labors  of  his  hands.  A 
just  and  vigorous  administration  guards  his  life,  liberty 
and  possessions,  while  culture  and  progress  spread  untold 
opportunities  before  him.  There  is  not  an  intelligent 
native  but  will  acknowledge  the  benefits  of  British  rule 
and  power,  and  there  is  little  doubt  that  he  speaks  as  he 
feels. 

And  yet  we  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  the  con- 
viction that  underneath  this  glossy  surface  there  smould- 


HEADLANDS    OF    INDIAN    HISTORY.  2g 

er  the  embers  of  the  old  fire.  A  national  uneasiness 
and  unrest,  broken  here  and  there  by  kindlings  of  posi- 
tive hostility,  lie  beneath,  unknown  and  unsuspected.  If 
the  match  of  religious  fanaticism  kindled  this  inflammable 
temper  before,  is  there  any  certain   security  that  it  might 

not  kindle  it  a^^ain? 

.  .  .  * .    ' 

Culture,  education,  conciliation  are  alike  unavailing  to 

neutralize  the  inflammability  of  this  temper.  There  are 
but  two  remedies  for  this,  the  steel  bayonet,  or  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit.  Military  force  may  over-awe  and  keep  this 
unruly  spirit  in  subjection  ;  but  the  gospel  of  Christ 
alone,  when  received  and  obeyed,  can  transform  the 
natural  hostility  of  India  to  foreign  rule,  into  true  and 
lasting  loyalty. 

And  now  after  nearly  forty  centuries  of  changeful 
history,  during  which  the  people  have  gone  steadily 
backward,  until  to-day,  India  sits  at  the  feet  of  the 
nations  ;  after  numerous  foreign  dominations  and  usurpa- 
tions impoverishing  her  resources  and  desolating  her 
beauty,  after  a  hundred  years  of  governmental  probation, 
neglected  and  unimproved,  the  door  of  duty  and  of 
opportunity  opens  before  the  Christian  people  and  crown 
of  England.  Shall  they  have  the  wisdom,  the  faith  and 
the  courage  to  enter  it,  is  the  stupendous  question  of 

THE    hour    AND    THE    NATION  ! 


II. 

VEDISM; 

*      OR, 

Speculative  Hinduism. 


To  the  student,  desirous  of  rearing  up  an  intelligible 
account  of  Hinduism  as  a  system,  there  is  certainly 
material  enough  available.  Books,  —  mythological, 
legendary,  ethical,  statistical,  in  abundance ; — books, 
sedate  as  Blackstone,  extravagant  as  Munchausen,  poetic 
as  Homer,  statementary  as  a  National  Census  Report. 
Time, — in  vistas  of  ages  and  aeons  and  cycles,  putting 
geologic  eras  utterly  into  the  shade,  looking  away  dimly 
into  eternal  perspectives.  Actors, — natural  and  super- 
natural ;  in  batallions,  cohorts,  legions,  armies ; — repre- 
senting men,  monkies,  giants,  gods  and  demi-gods. 
Theatre  of  action, — continents  and  oceans  and  mountains, 
clear  beyond  and  above  the  ken  of  geographers,  ancient 
or  modern  ! 

Yes,  material  enough  and  to  spare  !  Enough  slush 
and  slime  and  slippery  clay,  but  very  few  stones,  and 
these  so  crooked  and  irregular,  as  to  be  impossible  to 
30 


VEDISM  ;     OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  3 1 

lay  straight  or  even.  Indeed,  as  far  as  the  materials  are 
concerned,  for  abundance  and  variety,  it  would  be  easier 
to  build  up  a  hundred  diverse  systems  from  them  than 
one  intelHgible  and  consistent  whole.  The  difficulty  is 
to  so  interpret  and  harmonize  the  abundant  material  on 
hand,  as  to  shape  out  a  connected  Religious  and  Philo- 
sophical System.  And,  in  truth,  after  the  most  careful 
analysis  and  elucidation,  it  will  be  found  that  Hinduism, 
instead  of  being  a  compact,  integral  and  well-defined 
religious  belief,  is  really  a  conglomeration  of  an  endless 
number  and  variety  of  thought,  principles  and  policies, 
bound  together  by  a  few  strong  sinews  and  covered  over 
by  a  thin  skin,  giving  the  whole  an  appearance  of  evenness 
and  uniformity. 

To  make  the  subject  intelligible,  we  need  to  look  back 
some  four  thousand  years,  and  we  see  India  in  the  posses- 
sion of  a  simple,  uncultured,  aboriginal  race,  dwelling  in 
hills  and  caves  and  jungles,  symbolized  in  the  poetry  of 
modern  times  by  monkeys.  The  first  flow  into  this  dark 
sea  is  supposed  to  have  been  that  of  the  primitive  Scyth- 
ian and  Mongolian  immigrants  from  the  steppes  of  Tar- 
tary  and  Tibet ;  and  the  present  Dravidian  race  in  the 
South  of  India  is  believed  to  represent  this  immigration. 
These  early  settlers  in  part  mingled  with  the  aboriginal 
inhabitants,  and  made  some  progress  in  civilization. 
They  were  dark  in  complexion  and  were  called  Dasyus, 
or  natives.  Of  the  primitive  religion  of  these  tribes,  we  can 


32  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

have  no  certain  knowledge,  but  it  is  probable  that  Fetich- 
ism  and  devil  worship  prevailed  among  the  ruder  tribes, 
and  "  tree  and  serpent  "  and  phallic  worship  among  the 
more  advanced.* 

At  this  period  there  dwelt  upon  the  great  table-land  of 
Central  Asia,  probably  in  the  region  surrounding  the 
source  of  the  Oxus  near  Bokhara,  that  great  family  called 
Arya  or  noble,  speaking  a  language  the  common  source 
of  Sanscrit,  Prakrit,  Zand,  Persian  and  Armenian  in  Asia, 
and  of  the  Hellenic,  Italic,  Keltic,  Teutonic  and  Slavonic 
languages  in  Europe. f  Separating  into  distinct  parties, 
they  flowed  respectively  into  Europe,  Persia  and  India  ; 
and  thus  the  one  great  Aryan  family  separated  into  dis- 
tinct and  different  nationalities. 

We  follow  the  Aryan  immigrants  into  India,  and  find 
them  spreading  themselves  in  the  tract  bordering  upon 
the  five  rivers  of  the  Panjab,  thence  through  the  fertile 
plain  of  the  Ganges,  and  beyond,  over  Central  India  as 
far. as  the  Vindhya  mountains.  Leading  the  way  of  a 
higher  civilization  and  of  an  irresistible  force,  they  press 
the  older  settlers  into  the  hills,  or  farther  south,  and  thus 
cover  the  best  part  of  India  with  their  superior  prestige 
and  powder. 

The  question  now  arises,  have  we  any  reliable  record 
of  the  religion  of  these  early  Aryan  settlers  ?  It  is  here 
that  the  oldest  extant  literature  of  the  Hindus  comes   to 

*  Robson's  Hinduism,  p.  29.  f  Monier  Williams'  Hinduism,  p.  3. 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  33 

our  help.  These  are  in  Sanscrit,  in  the  form  of  certain 
old  Hymns,  known  as  the  Rig  Veda.  The  oldest  of 
these  go  back  to  more  than  three  thousand  years  from  the 
present  date,  or  1 200  B.  c.  In  these  Hymns,  we  find  the  glim- 
mering of  the  recognition  of  One  Supreme  Deity  already 
becoming  obscured  by  fanciful  and  polytheistic  specula- 
tions. Take  for  example,  the  following,  as  an  expression 
of  this  struggling  beliei: — 

"  Then  there  was  neither  Aught  nor  Naught,  no  air  nor  sky  beyond. 
What  covered  all  ?  Where  rested  all  ?     In  wateiy  gulf  profound  ? 
Nor  death  was  then,  nor  deathlessness,  nor  change  of  night  and  day, 
That  one  breathed  calmly,  self-sustained ;  naught  else  beyond  it  lay. 
Gloom  hid  in  gloom  existed  first, — one  sea,  eluding  view, 
That  one,  a  void  in  chaos  wrapt,  by  inward  fervour  grew."  ^ 

Such  glimmerings,  taken  in  connection  with  the  philo- 
logical unity  already  adverted  to,  afford  room  for  the 
belief  that  before  our  Aryan  forefathers  parted  on  the 
Highlands  of  Central  Asia,  a  consistent  Monotheism  was 
their  accepted  creed.  Nor  is  it  difficult  to  conceive  how, 
upon  settling  in  India,  the  Indo  Aryans,  brought  into 
contact  with  the  forces  of  nature  as  they  never  had  been 
nor  could  be  in  their  cold  inland  habitation,  should  have 
begun  to  recognize  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Supreme 
Deity  in  the  majestic  forces  around  them.  Thus  the 
foundation  of  the  physiolatry  and  pantheism,  evident  in 
the   later   Vedas,  was    manifestly  laid.     Those  physical 

*R.  V.  X.  129.     Translated  by  Dr.  Muirin  Sanskrit  Texts,  vol.  v. 
c 


34  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

forces  which  awed  their  minds  and  affected  their  Hves 
were  invoked,  first  symbolically  doubtless,  but  afterward 
as  actual  deities.  Dyaus,  the  sky,  as  the  place  of  God's 
abode  ;  Aditi,  as  the  representation  of  the  infinite  ;  Varuna, 
as  the  god  of  night ;  Mitra,  as  the  god  of  day,  are  each 
addressed  and  adopted  as  deities. 

In  a  country  so  hot  and  scorched  as  India,  the  god  of 
dew  and  rain  could  not  but  be  recognized  as  a  most  use- 
ful and  potent  deity,  and  hence  we  find  Indra  elevated  to 
an  important  rank  in  the  scale  of  divinity ;  and  hence,  too, 
Agni,  the  god  of  fire,  and  Surya,  the  sun,  are  naturally 
associated  with  Indra,  and  form  the  chief  triad  in  the 
Vedic  hymns. 

These  representations  of  physical  force  are  multiplied, 
until  a  sacred  canon  of  thirty-three  is  reached.  Unlike 
the  mythology  of  other  nations,  however,  which  allots 
proportionate  relations  to  all  its  deities,  each  god  here  is 
addressed  as  Supreme,  and  thus  even  through  these  fan- 
ciful and  corrupt  imaginings,  the  sentiment  of  One 
Supreme  Deity  is  discernible.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
these  gods  were  represented  by  any  external  image  or 
form,  nor  does  it  appear  that  temples  were  constructed 
for  their  honor  or  worship.  The  language  of  these  hymns 
shows  that  the  great  burden  of  invocation  was  for  the 
forgiveness  of  sin,  and  for  the  averting  of  the  Divine 
wrath,  chiefly  in  view  of  this  world.  To  this  end  prayers 
and   prostrations  were  performed,   oblations   of  flowers 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  35 

and  butter  offered  and  sacrifices  ordained.  These  sacri- 
fices were  to  be  of  four  kinds, — that  of  the  goat,  the  cow, 
the  horse,  and  of  man,  though  the  precise  signification  of 
these  sacrifices  is  not  defined. 

There  is  no  allusion  to  the  doctrine  of  transmigration, 
which  became  the  triple' chain  of  the  later  Hindu  system. 
It  is  certain  also  that  while  in  these  early  Vedic  days, 
there  were  social  divisions  and  classes,  the  terrible  giant. 
Caste,  had  not  laid  its  throttling  hand  upon  the  throat  of 
progress.  There  were  no  restrictions  against  animal  food, 
even  the  flesh  of  the  cow,  nor  to  widow  marriage. 
Toward  a  future  life  there  are  only  dim  and  furtive 
glances ;  immortality  is  not  represented  as  a  natural 
property  of  the  soul,  but  as  the  gift  of  the  gods  to  the 
good  and  virtuous.  The  Indo  Aryans  are  represented  as 
an  intelligent,  hardy  and  thriving  people, — active,  ener- 
getic and  persevering  ;  determined  to  push  their  con- 
quests in  arms  as  well  as  in  progress  to  the  farthest  pos- 
sible limits. 

And  now  we  come  to  one  of  the  darkest  and  most 
degrading  transitions  in  religious  and  social  life  which 
the  history  of  man  has  ever  furnished.  And  the  reason 
here,  as  in  every  similar  case,  is  to  be  found  in  the  selfish 
domination  by  an  arrogant  few,  over  the  conscience  of 
the  ignorant  and  superstitious  multitude,  in  the  sacred 
name  of  religion  and  truth.  But  how  was  this  calamitous 
transition  brought  about  ? 


36  vedism;  or,  speculative  Hinduism. 

We  have  already  seen  that  there  existed  among  the 
early  Indo  Aryans  those  social  distinctions  which  were 
at  once  natural  and  necessary,  without  the  hard  bigotry 
of  caste.  These  distinctions,  in  view  of  their  sacred  duties 
and  requirements,  could  not  but  take  on  a  religious 
aspect.  If  there  were  sacrifices,  there  could  not  but  be 
priests  to  sacrifice ;  and  if  there  were  gods  to  worship, 
there  must  be  religious  teachers  to  conduct  the  worship. 
There  were  other  distinctions  again  purely  secular :  the 
soldier  class,  from  which  the  king  was  chosen  ;  the  trades- 
people and  agriculturists ;  and,  last  of  all,  the  poor  and 
ignorant  masses.  This  was  a  condition  of  things  as  nat- 
ural as  it  was  necessary.  At  this  juncture,  a  solitary 
passage  in  one  of  the  most  recent  hymns  of  the  Rig 
Veda  struck  the  fatal  match,  and  soon  the  whole  pile  of 
sacerdotal  pretension  was  in  a  blaze.  This  hymn  is  gen- 
erally admitted  to  be  a  comparatively  modern  production, 
and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  passage  in  question 
is  not  an  artful  interpolation.     It  runs  as  follows : 

"  The  embodied  spirit  has  a  thousand  heads, 
A  thousand  eyes,  a  thousand  feet,  around 
On  every  side  enveloping  the  earth, 
Yet  filling  space  no  larger  than  a  span. 

"  From  Him,  called  Purusha,  was  born  Viraj, 
And  from  Viraj  was  Purusha  produced, 
Whom  gods  and  holy  men  made  their  oblation. 
With  Purusha  as  victim,  they  performed 
A  sacrifice.     When  they  divided  him, 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  37 

How  did  they  cut  him  up  ?     What  was  his  mouth  ? 
What  were  his  arms  ?     And  what  his  thighs,  his  feet  ? 
The  Brahman  was  his  mouth,  the  kingly  soldier 
Was  made  his  arms,  the  husbandman  his  thighs, 
The  servile  Sudra  issued  from  his  feet."* 

Thus  buttressed,  the  priestly  arrogance  of  the  sacerdo- 
tal class  was  not  slow  to  build  up  the  hard  and  high  walls 
of  caste  superstition.  The  Brahmans  were  not  only  the 
highest  caste,  they  were  a  different,  and  altogether  higher 
order  of  being, — indeed,  as  demi-gods,  they  claimed  not 
only  homage,  but  worship.  The  Kshatriya,  or  warrior 
class,  came  next,  and  the  Vaisyas, — merchants  and  agri- 
culturists, followed.  These  three  castes  were  the  sacred 
*^  twice-born,"  by  virtue  of  investiture  with  the  sacred 
thread.  At  an  immeasureable  distance  from  them,  came 
the  vile  Sudra,  the  servant  of  all.  Of  course,  all  the 
sacred  offices  aud  mysteries  were  the  exclusive  monopoly 
of  the  Brahmans.  Each  caste  was  absolutely  walled  off, 
and  intermarriage,  social  intercourse,  and  even  personal 
contact,  were  rigidly  interdicted,  and  the  interdiction  was 
enforced  by  the  severest  penalties.  These  terrible  dis- 
tinctions were,  moreover,  confirmed  by  legislature.  "If  a 
twice-born  man,  for  instance,  abused  one  of  the  same 
caste,  he  was  to  be  punished  by  a  small  fine,  but  if  a  once- 
born  man  spoke  disrespectfully  of  the  caste  of  one  of  the 
twice-born,  an  iron  style,  ten  fingers  long,  was  to  be 
thrust  red  hot  into   his  mouth ;  for  insult  to  the  sacred 

*Mundala,  x.  90.     M.  Williams,  p.  30. 


38  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

caste,  the  Sudra's  tongue  was  to  be  slit  through."  It  was 
the  greatest  possible  crime  to  put  a  Brahman  to  death, — 
the  severest  punishment  for  the  vilest  crime  being  ban- 
ishment. 

The  religiously  servile  condition  of  the  Sudras  may  be 
inferred  from  the  following  story  narrated  in  the  Rama- 
yana  :  When  Rama  was  reigning  in  Ayodhya,  a  Brahman 
complained  to  him  that  the  kingdom  was  under  a  curse 
owing  to  his  heedless  rule,  adducing  as  a  proof  that  his 
son,  five  years  old,  had  died.  Rama  thereon  proceeded, 
sword  in  hand,  to  search  his  kingdom  for  the  cause.  By 
the  side  of  a  lake,  he  saw  a  man  engaged  in  intense 
devotion,  who,  when  interrogated,  confessed  himself  to 
be  a  Sudra.  For  a  servile  creature  thus  to  seek  admis- 
sion into  heaven  was  an  iniquity  sufficient  to  overwhelm 
his  kingdom.  Rama,  by  one  stroke  of  his  sword,  severed 
his  head  from  his  body,  whereat  the  gods  were  so  pleased 
that  they  showered  blessings  upon  Rama  and  restored 
the  Brahman's  son  to  life. 

The  multiplication  of  gods,  and  the  setting  up  and 
worship  of  idols  were  the  direct  fruit  of  this  arroeant 
sacerdotalism.  The  more  dense  and  debasing  the  super- 
stition in  which  the  masses  were  held,  the  more  powerful 
and  tenacious  the  priestly  hold  ;  hence  the  invention  of  a 
complex  ritualism  superadded  to  a  system  of  bloody  sacri- 
fices. Here,  too,  we  have  the  rise  of  the  great  bug-bear  doc- 
trine of  transmigration,  which  has  for  the  last  twenty-five 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  39 

hundred  years  ridden  the  Hindu  conscience  Hke  some  ter- 
rible nightmare.  Thus  the  Brahman  had  the  vulgar  and 
superstitious  multitude  completely  under  his  control,  and 
could  ply  his  arrogant  trade  with  ever-increasing  gain. 

Two  memorable  national  episodes  belong  to  this 
period,  which,  as  laying  the  foundation  of  a  future  hero- 
worship,  demand  notice.  These  episodes  have  been 
commemorated  in  the  two  great  epic  poems  known  as 
the  Ramayana  and  the  Mahabharata.  The  first  describes 
the  marvelous  exploits  of  Rama  Chandra,  the  son  of 
Dasartha,  king  of  Ayodhya.  He  won  his  beautiful  h>ride, 
Sita,  by  stringing,  while  only  a  stripling  a  bow  so  pow- 
erful that  the  strongest  men  had  failed  to  bend.  The 
jealous  intrigues  of  a  younger  wife  of  his  father's,  in  favor 
of  her  son,  Bharata,  however,  caused  Rama's  banishment. 
With  his  wife,  Sita,  and  his  brother,  Lakshman,  Rama 
went  away  into  a  distant  forest.  While  Rama  was  out 
upon  a  hunt,  Ravana,  the  dreaded  giant-king  of  Lanka 
(Ceylon)  carried  off  Sita  through  the  air  to  his  kingdom 
in  the  South.  Thereupon,  Rama  engaged  in  a  long  and 
sanguinary  contest  with  Rava#a,  in  which  he  was  greatly 
aided  by  Sugriva,  the  king  of  the  monkeys,  under  the 
generalship  of  Hanuman.  Rama  and  his  allies  invaded 
Lanka, — a  bridge  having  been  cast  up  by  the  monkeys, 
by  tearing  down  mountains  and  casting  them  into  the 
sea.  With  much  difficulty,  Ravana  was  slain,  and  Rama 
recovered  his  wife,  whose  virtue  having  been  completely 


40  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

established,  she  and  her  husband  were  restored  to  the 
kingdom  of  Dasartha,  where  they  long  reigned  in  peace. 

The  Mahabharata  is  an  embellished  account  of  the 
struggle  for  supremacy  between  two  rival  Kshatriya  races, 
known,  as  the  Pandavs  and  the  Kauravs.  Yudhi-shthira, 
the  eldest  representative  of  the  former,  to  whom  the  title 
to  the  kingdom  of  Hastinapur  belonged,  is  artfully  per- 
suaded to  play  at  dice  by  the  rival  party,  so  that,  in  the 
end,  he  loses  his  title  to  the  kingdom.  A  disgraceful 
exile  follows,  but  after  thirteen  years  the  Pandavs,  burn- 
ing with  revenge,  determine  to  wrest  the  kingdom  from 
the  artful  Kauravs.  The  terrible  conflict  took  place  near 
Delhi,  and  raged  with  fierceness  for  eighteen  days, 
resulting  in  a  decisive  though  bloody  victory  for  the  Pan- 
davs. In  this  struggle  they  were  ably  seconded  by 
Krishna,  king  of  Dwarka,  in  Guzerat.  Yudhi-shthira  is 
crowned  king  of  Hastinapur ;  but,  wearied  and  sad  at 
heart,  he  finally  renounces  his  hardly-earned  kingdom, 
and  takes  his  departure  toward  Indra's  heaven  in  Mount 
Meru. 

We  now  arrive  at  an  irftportant  era  in  the  moral  and 
religious  history  of  the  world.  There  are  times  when  a 
sullen  sky  glares  upon  a  stagnant  sea,  and  above,  beneath, 
around,  there  is  neither  glimmer  of  light  nor  stir  of  life. 
Then  the  putrid  stagnation  is  suddenly  broken  as  though 
by  the  bursting  of  some  awful  dynamite  in  the  very  womb 
of  death.       Thus    it   was  throughout  the    world  about 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  4I 

600  B.  c,  —  the  blackest  hour  of  an  awful  night! 
It  was  at  this  juncture  that  a  general  stirring  of  life, — an 
earnest  reaching  forth  after  the  hidden  mysteries  of  life, 
death  and  eternity, — agitated  the  world. 

While  the  echoes  of  the  message  of  Isaiah, — ^the  fore- 
most Messianic  prophet,  —  breathing  hope  and  cheer 
through  the  promised  coming  of  the  Redeemer,  were 
still  rolling  upon  the  hot  plains  of  a  sin-swept  world,  the 
breath  of  an  earnest  soul-enquiry,  both  deep  and  wide, 
stirred  the  civilized  world.  Pythagoras  in  Greece,  Zoro- 
aster in  Persia,  Confucius  in  China,  were  but  types  of 
the  thinking  mind,  which,  throwing  off  the  slumber  of 
years,  arose  to  assert  its  right  to  explore  the  dark  mys- 
teries behind  the  veil  of  mortal  life.  What  about  India 
at  this  time  of  universal  awakening, — India,  upon  whose 
face  there  brooded  the  darkest  night  of  ignorance  and 
superstition  ? 

Just  about  this  time,  Buddha  Goutama  comes  upon 
the  scene  of  Indian  religious  history.  It  is  difficult  to 
eliminate  the  mythical  from  the  purely  historical  in  the 
life  of  this  remarkable  and  interesting  personage.  He 
was  the  son,  we  are  informed,  of  the  king  of  Kapila 
Vastu,  a  kingdom  at  the  foot  of  the  Himalayas,  and  was 
born  about  six  hundred  years  before  our  era.  He  early 
manifested  a  religious  and  contemplative  disposition. 
At  his  father's  request,  he  married,  and  for  some  time 
passed   his   life  in  tranquil   ease  and  quiet,  but  it  is   cer- 


42  vedism;  or,  speculative  Hinduism. 

tain  that  there  vvere  strivings  within  unquenched  and 
unquenchable. 

One  day,  while  driving  out,  he  met  an  aged  man,  totter- 
ing on  his  staff;  on  another  day  he  met  a  loathsome  leper, 
stricken  with  deadly  disease,  and  yet  on  another,  the 
corpse  of  a  dead  man  borne  out.  **  Are  age,  decrepitude, 
disease  and  death  the  common  lot  of  all  men,"  reflected 
the  young  prince ;  *'  if  so,  then  wealth,  rank,  luxury  are 
all  lying,  disappointing  vanities  ! "  Shortly  after,  he  met 
a  recluse,  who  had  renounced  wealth  and  pleasure, 
and  spent  his  time  in  solitude  and  meditation.  This 
decided  the  young  prince.  That  same  night,  his  first- 
born son  was  born,  and  there  is  something  peculiarly 
touching  in  the  story  of  the  young  prince,  as  under  the 
pressure  of  an  all-absorbing  conviction, — he  creeps  in 
stealthily  at  night  to  have  a  last  look  at  his  wife  and  child, 
and  then  quits  home,  kindred  and  kingdom,  to  embrace 
the  life  of  a  mendicant,  if  haply  he  might  find  deliverance 
from  the  ills  of  life  and  from  the  pangs  of  death. 

Repairing  to  a  forest,  he  gave  himself  up  to  the  sever- 
est bodily  ansterities.  For  six  years  the  Buddha,  known 
as  Sakya  Muni,  (the  Sakya  sage  or  recluse)  afflicted  him- 
self with  fasting  and  other  mortifications.  During  these 
years  he  learned  the  lying  vanity  of  idol  worship,  the 
hollowness  of  all  ceremonial  and  sacrificial  rites,  and  the 
utter  fictitiousness  of  caste  distinctions,  but  he  obtained 
not  the  deliverance  he  sought  for.     Disappointed,  he  cast 


vedism;  or,  speculative  Hinduism.  43 

aside  all  these  austere  practices  and  ceremonies,  and  was 
forthwith  deserted  by  those  who  had  been  attracted  to 
him  in  his  exile  by  the  severe  sanctity  of  his  life. 

Alone,  discouraged  and  weary,  he  determined  upon 
one  effort  more,  before  he  should  abandon  the  struggle 
forever.  He  now  betook  himself  to  a  secluded  position 
beneath  a  mimosa  tree,  where  he  gave  himself  up  to  severe 
meditation.  Here,  after  a  fearful  mental  struggle,  in 
which  he  was  assailed  by  demons,  he  at  last  triumphed, 
and  obtained  the  deliverance  he  had  longed  for.  Resolved 
to  publish  abroad  the  good  tidings,  he  returned  to  his 
father's  house,  where,  after  a  time,  his  father,  wife,  and 
all  his  family  became  his  disciples ;  yet  he  continued  a 
recluse,  without  habitation  or  worldly  possessions  ;  trav- 
eling from  city  to  city,  village  to  village,  spreading  the 
knowledge  he  had  gained,  until,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  he 
died,  or  as  the  Buddhists  say,  entered  Nirvana.  Buddhism 
spread  rapidly  and  widely,  by  means  of  its  zealous  pro- 
pagandists, until  in  the  reign  of  King  Asoka,  it  was 
adopted  by  that  monarch  as  the  state  religion. 

Now  what  is  Buddhism,  and  how  did  it  affect  the  pre- 
valent Brahmanism  of  the  period  ?  As  has  been  indi- 
cated. Buddhism  was  the  natural  reaction  from  the 
oppressive  sacerdotalism  of  the  priestly  class.  But  it 
commands  a  broader  interest  than  this.  It  is  the  product 
of  man's  thought,  the  total  outcome  of  man's  resources, 
in   the    most   favorable   circumstances.     Other  religions 


44  VEDISM;    OR,   SPECULATIVE   HINDUISM. 

have  come  professing  to  answer  the  great  heart-longing 
of  humanity,  compressed  in  the  inquiry,  "  What  must  I 
do  to  be  saved  ? "  as  from  the  Hps  of  God.  Buddhism 
alone  baldly  and  unequivocally  declares  that  it  has  solved 
the  problem  without  God.  In  its  reactionary  aversion  to 
Brahmanic  idolatry,  it  dispenses  with  the  Divine  Being 
altogether,  and  affirms  that  the  only  God  is  what  man 
himself  might  become.  Hence  a  Buddhist  never  really 
prays  or  worships  ;  he  merely  meditates  on  the  perfec- 
tions of  Buddha  and  on  the  hope  of  finally  attaining 
Nij'vdna. 

But  what  is  Nirvana,  the  sinnvmm  bonuin  of  this 
sterile  system  ?  It  is  non-existence  or  simple  annihilation. 
If  ceasing  to  live  then,  be  the  desirable  goal,  the  great- 
est possible  good,  life, — human  life, — must  be  the  grav- 
est calamity.  This  is  distinctly  affirmed  in  the  four  great 
"  doctrines  of  the  wheel,"  supposed  to  have  been  revealed 
to  Buddha  under  the  mimosa  tree  ;  these  are  as   follows  : 

I.  Suffering  exists  wherever  there  is  life.  2.  Suffering 
is  caused  by  desire.  3.  Release  from  suffering  depends 
on  the  suppression  of  desire  and  extinction  of  being 
(Nirvana).  4.  Nirvana  can  only  be  obtained  by  follow- 
ing the  paths  pointed  out  by  Buddha.  These  paths  are 
eight  in  number ;  the  four  which  are  applicable  to  all 
men,  being  right  vision,  right  thoughts,  right  words,  and 
right  actions.  The  other  four,  applicable  to  recluses,  are 
right  living  as  a  recluse,  right  application  to  the  study  of 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  45 

the  law,  right  memory  in  recollecting  the  law,  and  right 
meditation. 

The  doctrine  of  transmigration  is  sternly  elaborated 
and  uncompromisingly  maintained.  According  to  Budd- 
hist belief,  when  a  man  dies  he  is  immediately  born  again, 
or  appears  in  a  new  shape,  according  to  his  merit  or 
demerit;  he  may  be  born  in  the  form  of  a  woman,  or  a 
slave,  a  quadruped,  a  bird,  a  fish,  an  insect,  a  plant,  or 
even  a  piece  of  inorganic  matter.  "  He  may  be  born  in  a 
state  of  punishment  in  one  of  the  many  Buddhist  hells 
(one  hundred  and  thirty-six  in  all) ;  or  in  the  condition 
of  a  happy  spirit  or  even  divinity  in  heaven ;  but  what- 
ever the  position  be,  and  however  long  he  may  live  in 
it,  the  life  will  have  an  end,  and  the  individual  must  be  born 
again,  and  may  again  be  either  happy  or  miserable.*"  From 
such  a  course  of  existence  and  its  endless  uncertainties 
and  ills.  Nirvana,  or  non-existence,  is  the  only  escape. 

Among  the  redeeming  qualities  of  this  system, 
beside  the  negative  ones  of  antagonism  to  caste,  idol 
worship  and  sacerdotalism,  may  be  mentioned  the  empha- 
sis given  to  morality,  especially  the  practice  of  charity 
and  benevolence  to  all  animated  beings, —  the  utmost 
regard  being  shown  even  to  the  brutes  ;  and  the  practical 
inculcation  of  the  common  brotherhood  of  man,  in  con- 
sonance with  which  Buddhism  exhibited  itself  as  a  relig- 
ion adapted  to  all  men. 

*  Garrett's  Classical  Dictionary. 


46  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

Allowing  full  credit  for  these  relieving  characteristics, 
there  is  something  peculiarly  saddening  about  this  sys- 
tem, considering  its  origin  and  results.  Surely,  if  ever 
humanity  had  a  fair  chance  of  devising  and  developing  a 
system  such  as  should  satisfy  man's  deepest  longings, 
here  was  its  opportunity.  Here  we  behold  intense  ear- 
nestness, absorbing  devotion,  and  patient  toil  brooding 
over  the  great  problem,  and  then  we  hear  the  cry, 
"Eureka" — I  have  found  it !  We  hasten  to  behold  the 
majestic  discoveiy,  and  lo !  a  system  truly  Saharan  in 
its  utter  sterility.  A  religion  without  a  God,  bemoaning 
this  life  of  opportunity  and  usefulness  as  the  gravest 
calamity,  and  looking  forward  from  the  hot  edge  of  so 
miserable  an  existence  to  a  Nirvana  of  annihilation,  as  its 
only  relief,  its  highest  joy  !  Here,  behold  man's  highest 
endeavor  and  man's  greatest  success  ! 

The  spread  of  Buddhism,  though  rapid  and  wide,  was 
short-lived,  as  might  have  been  expected.  Indeed,  but 
for  the  putrid  stagnation  which  preceded  it,  it  is  doubtful 
if  the  system  would  have  commanded  the  success  it  did. 
A  long  and  fierce  struggle  was  maintained  by  the  Brah- 
manical  party  for  their  rights  and  interests,  and  in  the  end 
Buddhism,  as  a  distinct  system,  succumbed.  In  the 
twelfth  century,  Hinduism  was  established  throughout 
India,  and  the  only  relic  of  Buddhism  now  existing  is  the 
small  and  unimportant  sect  of  the  Jains. 

But  while  Buddhism  as  an  organization,  has  disap- 


VEDISM  ;    OK,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  47 

peared,  the  impress  of  its  footsteps  still  remains.  The 
system  of  sacrifices  discountenanced  by  Buddha,  has 
never  fully  regained  its  interest,  the  doctrine  of  transmi- 
gration has  been  vivified,  and  the  efficacy  of  self-mortifi- 
cation as  an  aid  to  final  emancipation  has  been  recognized 
and  emphasized.  Even  the  terrible  doctrine  of  caste  has 
received  a  violent  shaking,  though,  of  course,  it  has  been 
to  the  interest  of  Brahmanism  to  preserve  and  strengthen 
its  coils. 

But  the  influence  of  Buddhism  in  moulding  the  Hindu 
religion,  as  we  find  it  to  day,  is  deeper  and  more  exten- 
sive still.  The  Brahmans  in  their  long  conflict,  with 
their  usual  astuteness,  saw  the  necessity  of  accommoda- 
tion toward  an  assimilation  with  the  new  system.  Buddha 
was  represented  as  an  incarnation  of  one  of  the  popular 
gods,  and  thus  taken  under  the  wings  of  the  Hindu 
mythology.  The  Brahmans  were  aroused  to  greater 
intellectual  activity,  for  their  appeal  to  the  authority  of 
the  Vedas  was  no  longer  conclusive,  since  their  oppo- 
nents drove  them  into  the  field  of  metaphysics,  and 
required  them  to  prove  all  things.  Hence  arose  succes- 
sively the  six  schools  or  Darshans  of  Hindu  philosophy. 
These  are  contained  in  the  Upanishads,  the  third  division 
of  the  Veda,  regarded  not  merely  as  complementar}-  to 
but  as  the  consummation  of  all  previous  revelation. 

These  six  schools  are:  i.  The  Nyaya,  founded  by 
Gotama,     2.  The    Vaiseshika,  by  Kanada.     3.  The  San- 


48  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

kliya,  by  Kapila.  4.  The  Yoga,  by  Patanjali.  5.  The 
Mhnansa,  by  Jaimini.  6.  The  Veda?tta,  by  Badarayana 
or  Vyasa. 

These  again  may  be  arranged  into  three  pairs,  the  first 
and  second,  the  third  and  fourth,  the  fifth  and  sixth  ;  each 
of  these  being  substantially  the  same,  the  later  elucidat- 
ing or  confirming  the  former. 

I.   The  Nyaya  and  Vaiseshika  Schools. 

The  first  topic  of  the  Nyaya  proper  is  the  means  or 
instrument  by  which  the  right  measure  of  a  subject  is  to 
be  obtained,  and  the  second  enumerates  the  subjects  upon 
which  knowledge  is  desirable  or  necessary.  The  supple- 
mentary Vaiseshika  extends  this  system  to  physical 
investigations.  According  to  this  school,  the  formation 
of  the  world  is  supposed  to  be  effected  by  the  aggrega- 
tion of  atoms,  which  are  innumerable  and  eternal.  These 
atoms  act  by  the  power  cf  Adrishta,  the  unseen  force 
derived  from  the  works  or  acts  of  a  previous  world. 
Hence  a  long  chain  or  succession  of  creations  must  be 
supposed  so  as  to  originate  the  force  or  Adhrishta  re- 
quired ;  yet  beyond  all  these,  there  must  be  an  originat- 
ing cause  to  give  the  first  creative  impulse,  which  this 
philosophy  neither  accounts  for  nor  explains. 

The  name  of  Isvara,  Supreme  Lord,  occurs  once  in  the 
Nyaya,  but  no  part  or  province  in  creatorship  is  ascribed 
to  him.     Later  Nyaya  writers  affirm  the  existence  of  a 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  49 

Supreme  Soul  {Paramdtinari)  distinct  from  the  human 
soul  iyjivdtinaii).  The  latter  they  view  as  eternal,  mani- 
fold, distinct  from  the  body,  infinite,  ubiquitous ;  indeed, 
diffused  everywhere  throughout  space,  so  that  my  soul 
is  in  New  York  and  Calcutta  at  one  and  the  same  time, 
though  it  can  only  apprehend  and  feel  and  act  where  the 
body  is  for  the  time  located. 

II.   TJie  Sankhya  and  Yoga  Schools. 

This  traces  the  whole  world  of  sense  from  an  original, 
primordial  Tattva  or  eternally  existing  essence  called 
Prakriti.  This  elementary  germ  is  itself  made  up  of 
three  constituent  principles,  called  Guiias, — namely  sattva, 
goodness  or  purity;  rajas,  passion  or  activity;  and  tanias, 
darkness  or  stolidity.  These  gunas  enter  into  the  com- 
position of  all  material  things  in  varying  proportions. 
In  the  case  of  man,  they  make  him  noble,  selfish  or 
brutish,  according  to  the  preponderation  of  goodness, 
passion  or  darkness  respectively. 

Thus  the  doctrine  of  evolution,  which  is  paraded  in 
our  day  as  the  last-born  Benjamin  of  science,  was  not 
only  published,  but  elaborately  formulated  by  the  Hindu 
philosopher  twenty-four  centuries  ago. 

This  Prakriti  produces  twenty-three  other  tattvas  or 
entities, — the  soul  or  spirit  being  an  additional  and  dis- 
tinct essence,  destitute  of  gunas,  though  liable  to  be 
affected  by  them. 

3  D 


50  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

Of  these  twenty-three  tattvas,  seven  things  are  pro- 
ducers ;  sixteen  are  merely  productions.  Among  the 
producers  are  Bicddhi,  or  intelligence,  whence  springs 
Ahankdra^  or  self-consciousness,  and  this  again  produces 
five  other  subtle  principles  called  Taiwidtras. 

Among  the  sixteen  productions,  are  the  five  grosser 
elements  (ether,  air,  fire  or  light,  water  and  earth),  the 
five  organs  of  sense,  the  five  organs  of  action,  and  an 
internal  organ  called  Ma7ias  or  Mind. 

The  soul  Purusha,  is  quite  distinct  from  Ahankdra, 
self-consciousness,  and  Manas,  Mind ;  and  in  itself  pos- 
sesses neither  consciousness,  intelligence  nor  activity. 
Nevertheless,  for  this  soul,  Prakriti  creates  all  things, 
which  the  soul,  by  the  way,  so  far  from  appreciating, 
resents  and  resists,  struggling  earnestly  so  as  to 
be  delivered  from  the  fetters  which  creation  fastens 
upon  it. 

There  is  vague  and  distant  intimation  of  the  existence 
of  a  Supreme  Soul,  but  as  in  the  previous  school,  it  has 
nothing  to  do  with  the  act  or  acts  of  creation.  The  Yoga 
supplement  teaches  the  means  by  which  the  human  soul 
may  attain  union  with  the  Universal  spirit.  These  are 
by  maintaining  complete  quiescence  of  mind,  by  the  sup- 
pression of  the  passions,  by  earnest  meditation,  and  by 
mental  concentration  upon  the  object  desired.  This  lat- 
ter end  is  sought  after  by  the  strangest  bodily  restraints 
and  contortions,  suppression  of  the  breath,  etc.,  calculated. 


VEDISM  ;    OR,   SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  5 1 

if  persevered    in,  to   produce  a   condition   of  complete 
mind-vacuity. 

III.   TJie  Aliinansa  and  the  Vedanta  Schools. 

The  Mimansa  is  not  properly  a  philosophy.  It  is  a 
plea  on  behalf  of  the  Vedas,  as  the  source  of  all  author- 
ity. It  maintains  the  eternity  of  the  Vedas,  and  empha- 
sizes the  performance  of  dharma^  duty,  because  they  are 
prescribed  in  the  Vedas,  without  reference  to  any  Per- 
sonal will  or  authority. 

The  Vedanta,  as  its  name  implies,  is  founded  upon  the 
concluding  part  of  the  Vedas.  The  creed  of  this  "school 
is  summed  up  in  the  brief  formula,  ekam  evddvitiyam, — 
"  One  only  without  a  second." 

It  acknowledges  one  universal  essence,  called  Brahm. 
Its  qualities  are  summed  up  in  three  words,  sat,  chit, 
dnand  (being,  thought,  joy),  together  forming  the  desig- 
nation SacJi-chid-dnanda ;  yet  strangely  this  essence  is 
without  individual  consciousness,  knowledge  or  emotion. 
It  is  both  Creator  and  creation,  Actor  and  act.  This 
universe  is  Brahm ;  from  him  it  proceeds,  in  him  it 
breathes,  unto  him  it  is  dissolved.  The  Hindu  philoso- 
pher illustrates  this  by  a  number  of  time-worn  figures ; — 
what  yarn  is  to  cloth,  what  earth  to  a  jar,  what  gold  to  a 
bracelet,  that  is  Brahm  to  the  universe. 

But  how  can  an  impure  world  be  evolVed  from  a  pure, 
spiritual  essence  ?     The  two  former  schools  avoided  this 


52  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

dilemma  by  dissociating  the  Supreme  spirit  from  all  crea- 
tive act.  The  Vedantist  who  evolves  all  observed  pheno- 
mena from  Brahm,  escapes  it  by  affirming  that  the 
Universe  is  Maya, — an  illusion  merely.  The  personal 
deity,  Isvara,  the  personal  human  soul,  and  the  external 
world,  are  merely  a  show  and  a  semblance,  projected 
from  the  Essence  or  Spirit  above  defined,  as  the  shadow 
is  projected  by  the  pillar. 

This  Maya,  or  illusion,  has  two  effects, — it  e^ivelopes 
the  soul,  creating  the  notion  of  personality,  and  it  pro- 
jects a  world  which  we  regard  as  external  to  ourselves. 
The  Hindu  illustrates  this  by  the  dreamer,  who  in  his 
sleep,  perceiving  himself  surrounded  by  circumstances 
and  characters  which  he  believes  to  be  real,  thinks, 
and  speaks,  and  acts  ;  but  lo  !  he  awakes,  and  finds  that  all 
these  were  but  fictitious.  Thus  with  this  so-called  uni- 
verse ;  it  is  but  a  delusion,  a  dream  without  substance  or 
reality.  All  the  facts  of  our  consciousness,  all  the  pal- 
pableness  of  our  surroundings  avail  nothing ;  they  are 
but  the  imaginings  of  *'  a  mind  diseased,"  like  the  ficti- 
tious fancies  of  a  monomaniac. 

Such  is  a  succinct  view  of  the  three  great  divisions  of 
Hindu  philosophy.  The  first  originates  the  world  from 
a  concurrence  of  eternal  atoms  by  the  power  oi  Adrishta; 
the  second  evolves  it  from  a  primordial  eternal  germ, 
Prakriti,  operating,  however,  only  in  association  with 
Purusha,  souls ;  the  third  resolves  all  the  material  uni- 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  53 

verse  into  an  illusion  evolved  from  the  One  Supreme 
essence  or  spirit,  Brahm.  The  first  two  affirm  the  reality 
of  the  universe,  but  make  God  a  phantom,  a  shadow,  an 
empty  name ;  the  third  acknowledges  a  Deity,  but 
resolves  creation  into  a  fictitious  dream-land.  All  three 
degrade  the  Deity,  fail  to  solve  the  problems  of  actual 
life,  or  to  shed  light  on  man's  eternal  destiny. 

From  a  background  so  dark  and  conglomorate,  starts 
out  the  system  of  modern  Hinduism.  With  easy  accom- 
modation and  omnivorous  appetite,  it  has  swallowed, 
digested  and  then  reproduced  in  some  of  their  charac- 
teristics, the  many  systems  and  religions  with  which  it 
has  come  into  contact.  Indeed,  the  tact  of  the  Brahman 
in  becoming  "  all  things  to  all  men  "  is  truly  marvelous ; 
the  most  contraband  doctrines,  usages  and  practices  hav- 
ing been  revived,  recast  and  reissued  with  the  superscrip- 
tion of  orthodoxy, — while  Hinduism  has  been  swelled  to 
colossal  and  mis-shapen  proportions,  which  would  have 
toppled  over  at  any  time  but  for  its  granite  foundations 
of  caste  and  sacerdotalism. 

In  order  to  present  this  gigantic  aggregation  with  some 
regard  to  conciseness  and  clearness,  let  us  enquire,  in 
order, what  is  the  conception  of  modern  Hinduism  with 
regard  to  the  Supreme  Deity,  man's  true  nature,  final 
human  blessedness  and  the  means  of  attaining  to  it.  V 

First,  as  to  the  Supreme  Deity.  Hinduism  acknowl- 
edges One  Self-Existing,  Supreme  Spirit,  but  this  Spirit  is 


54  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

only  an  essence,  without  consciousness,  intelligence  or 
emotion.  He  has  no  care  or  concern  for  his  creatures,  is 
unmoved  by  their  regard  or  disregard,  and  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  prayer  or  worship.  Distant,  self-absorbed,  un- 
moved— he  is  nothing  but  a  Name,  the  cloud-wreathed 
apex  of  a  pyramidal  theology. 

But  man  has  cares,  troubles,  sorrows,  and  he  needs 
some  One  who  can  be  touched  with  sympathy  and  moved 
to  help  him.  He  has,  moreover,  the  instinct  of  worship, 
and  he  must  have  some  Being  to  adore,  who  will  regard 
his  homage  and  receive  his  worship.  Hence  the  Hindu 
pantheon  of  thirty-three  Crores,  or  three  hundred  and 
thirty  millions  of  gods,  from  the  original  thirty-three  of 
the  early  Vedas.  This  immense  legion  rises  tier  by  tier, 
in  an  ascending  scale,  until  the  top  is  reached,  disclos- 
ing three  principal  personages,  each  associated  *with  a 
consort.  These  three  are  Brahma,  Vishnu  and  Shiva, 
the  well-known  tri-nmrti,  or  divine  Triad  of  modern 
Hinduism.  They  derive  their  existence  from  the  One 
Supreme  Spirit,  whose  emanation  they  are ;  and  will, 
at  the  end  of  the  Kalpa  or  age,  be  absorbed  into  him 
again. 

Brahma,  the  first,  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  Brahm, 
already  alluded  to  as  the  designation  of  the  Supreme  in- 
finite Spirit.  Brahma  is  supposed  to  be  an  expansion  of 
Agni,  the  Vedic  god  of  fire,  and  the  generator  of  life.  He 
is  regarded  as  the  lord  and  father  of  all  beings,  in  which 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  55 

character  he  is  represented  in  the  Veda  as  having  sacri- 
ficed himself  for  the  good  of  his  creatures. 

He  is  represented  as  a  man  with  four  faces,  of  a  gold 
color,  clothed  in  white  and  riding  on  a  goose.  Though 
first  in  the  tri-murti,  and  the  father  of  all  beings,  he  is 
but  little  regarded.  He  is  not  adopted  as  a  guardian 
deity,  and  is  now  only  worshipped  in  one  principal  place 
in  India,  namely,  at  Pushkar,  near  Ajmer.  He  is  the 
peculiar  patron  of  the  Brahmans,  who  are  regarded  as  his 
offspring  and  mouth-piece.  The  name  of  his  consort  is 
Saraswati,  once  a  river  goddess,  but  now  worshipped  as 
the  goddess  of  speech  and  learning. 

Vishnu,  the  second  person  in  the  triad,  is  regarded  as 
the  upholder  and  sustainer  of  life.  His  name  occurs  in 
the  Veda  as  a  manifestation  of  the  sun,  and  during  the 
Brahmanical  period,  it  rose  in  popular  regard  and  import- 
ance. He  is  represented  as  a  dark  man,  with  four  arms, 
wearing  yellow  garments,  and  riding  on  Guroor,  an  ani- 
mal half  bird  and  half  man.  The  name  of  his  consort  is 
Lakshmi,  or  the  goddess  of  prosperity.  A  popular 
legend  affirms  that  Saraswati,  the  goddess  of  learning, 
was  also  at  one  time  the  spouse  of  Vishnu  ;  but  the  ladies 
disagreed,  and  Vishnu,  concluding  that  one  wife  was  as 
much  as  even  a  god  could  manage,  put  away  the  learned 
lady,  who  thereafter  became  the  consort  of  Brahma.* 

The  religious  craving  of  the  people  who  longed  for 

*  Garrett's  Dictionary. 


56  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

some  object  of  worship  more  akin  to  their  own  nature,  fur- 
nished the  necessity,  and  tlieir  own  epic  poems,  the  Ra- 
mayana  and  Mahabharata,  suppHed  the  materials  for  the 
elaboration  of  the  system  o(  Avatars  or  incarnations  con- 
nected with  this  god.  Vishnu  is  represented  as  having 
repeatedly  taken  form  and  appeared  on  earth  to  save  it 
from  threatened  disaster,  and  it  is  through  these  avatars, 
that  he  is  chiefly  regarded  and  worshipped.  They  are  as 
follows : 

1.  As  Alatsya,  the  fish,  in  which  form  he  saved  Manu, 
the  progenitor  of  the  human  race,  in  a  ship  during  the 
universal  deluge. 

2.  As  Karma,  the  tortoise,  in  which  form  he  planted 
himself  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea  of  milk,  and  his  back 
thus  served  as  a  pivot  for  the  mountain  Mandara,  around 
which  the  great  serpent  Vasuki  was  twisted.  Gods  and 
demons  then  stood  opposite  one  another,  and  using  the 
snake  as  a  rope  and  the  mountain  as  a  churning-stick, 
they  churned  the  sea,  and  obtained  fourteen  precious 
things — the  most  precious  product,  as  far  as  Vishnu  him- 
self was  concerned,  being  the  fair  Lakhsmi,  his  future 
spouse. 

3.  As  Varaha,  the  boar.  In  this  form  Vishnu  de- 
scended to  deliver  the  world  from  a  powerful  demon, 
Hiranyaksha,  who  had  carried  it  down  to  the  bottom  of 
the  sea. 

4.  As  Narha-sinha,  the   man  lion.      In  this  form   he 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  57 

destroyed  a  terrible  demon  called  Hiranya  Kashipu,  who 
had  usurped  the  dominion  over  the  three  worlds. 

5.  As  Vdmana,  the  dwarf.  He  thus  appeared  before 
Bali,  another  demon  tyrant,  and  meekly  solicited  as  much 
land  as  he  could  step  in  three  paces.  The  demon  com- 
plied, when  the  dwarf,  assuming  enormous  magnitude, 
in  two  steps  strode  over  heaven  and  earth,  but  out  of 
compassion  left  the  lower  world,  Patala,  in  the  demon's 
possession. 

6.  As  Parasu-rama,  Rama  with  the  axe.  In  this  in- 
carnation he  cleared  the  earth  of  the  Kshatriya  race 
twenty  times  to  deliver  the  Brahmans. 

7.  As  Rama,  the  hero  of  the  Ramayana,  whose  exploits 
have  already  been  adverted  to.  This  brave  young  prince 
is  here  deified  as  an  incarnation  of  Vishnu,  and  is  wor- 
shipped with   his   wife  Sita  and  his  brother  Lakshman. 

8.  As  Krishna,  "  the  dark  god."  This  is  the  favorite 
and  most  renowned  incarnation  of  Vishnu.  Krishna  was 
the  son  of  Vasudeva,  and  was  born  in  the  city  of  Math- 
ura,  whose  tyrant  king,  Kansa,  being  forwarned  that  a 
child  of  Vasudeva  would  destroy  him,  put  Vasudeva  and 
his  wife  in  prison.  When,  however,  Krishna  was  born, 
the  gods  cast  the  guards  of  the  prison  into  a  deep  sleep, 
so  that  Vasudeva  was  enabled  to  bear  the  young  child 
out  and  place  it  in  the  care  of  Nanda,  a  cowherd,  whose 
reputed  child  Krishna  grew  up  to  be.  Krishna  performed 
some  mighty  exploits  when  but  a  child,  such  as  slaying 


58  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

a  huge  serpent,  a  demon  in  the  form  of  a  bull,  and  another 
in  the  form  of  a  horse.  Having  incited  Nanda  and 
the  cowherds  to  abandon  the  worship  of  Indra,  the  god 
of  heaven  sent  down  a  terrible  deluge  to  avenge  himself, 
but  Krishna  plucked  up  the  mountain  Govardhan,  and 
using  it  as  an  umbrella,  shielded  his  friends  from  the  wrath 
of  Indra. 

As  a  boy  he  was  mischievous  and  unruly ;  as  a  youth, 
he  was  a  profligate.  He  sported  with  the  gopis,  or  milk- 
women,  who  adored  him;  his  favorite  being  Radha,  who 
is  now  worshipped  with  him.  He  next  slew  Kansa  and 
placed  his  father  on  the  throne  ;  but  shortly  after  he  left 
Mathura  and  built  the  town  of  Dwarka,  in  Guzerat.  It 
was  from  here  that  he  went  to  the  help  of  the  Pandavs  in 
the  great  war  of  the  Mahabharata.  His  harem  numbered 
sixteen  thousand  wives.  He  is  the  prince  of  profligacy, 
cunning  and  lawlessness.  He  met  his  end  by  a  chance 
arrow  from  the  bow  of  a  hunter.  Krishna  is  the  most 
popular  god  of  India.  His  vices  are  glossed  over  or 
allegorized  by  the  pandits;  but  the  common  people  gloat 
over  them.  He  is  worshipped  in  various  forms — one  of 
the  best  known  being  that  of  Juggernaut  in  Orissa.  It 
is  a  hideous  black  stump  of  wood,  with  a  head  upon  it. 
Yet  beneath  the  heavy  car  in  which  this  shapeless  mon- 
ster was  borne  in  procession,  thousands  of  infatuated  dev- 
otees have  sacrificed  themselves. 

9.  As  Buddha.     The  Brahmans,  in  their  greed  to  effect 


VEDlSiM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  59 

a  compromise  with  the  Buddhists,  adopted  Buddha  as  an 
incarnation  of  Vishnu.  To  get  over  the  difficulty  of  an 
Avatar  of  this  god  being  an  opponent  of  idol-worship, 
etc.,  they  maintain  that  he  was  incarnated  as  Buddha  on 
purpose  to  delude  demons  and  wicked  men,  so  as  to  over- 
whelm them  in  destruction. 

10.  Kalki  or  Kalkin.  This  is  yet  in  the  future,  at  the 
end  of  an  age  of  universal  depravity,  to  award  retribution 
to  the  wicked  and  recompense  to  the  righteous. 

The  third  person  of  the  Hindu  U'i-niiirti  is  Shiva,  the  de- 
stroyer and  reproducer  of  nature.  He  is  usually  seen 
riding  on  a  bull,  which,  like  him,  is  generally  white.  His 
throat  is  dark  blue,  because  of  the  poison  he  is  said  to  have 
drunk  at  the  churning  of  the  sea  of  milk  ;  his  hair  of  a  light 
reddish  hue,  thickly  matted  together.  He  is  sometimes 
seen  with  two  hands,  sometimes  with  four,  eight  or  ten ; 
and  with  five  faces.  He  has  three  eyes,  one  being  in  the 
centre  of  his  forehead.  He  holds  a  trident  in  his  hand ; 
is  wrapped  round  with  a  tiger  skin,  wears  a  necklace  of 
skulls,  and  entwines  serpents  in  his  hair. 

He  is  represented  as  having  attained  to  the  highest 
perfection  in  austerity  and  meditation,  and  is  believed, 
even  now,  to  be  sitting  on  Koilas,  an  im.aginary  peak  of 
the  Himalayas,  constantly  augmenting  his  power  by 
religious  austerities.  He  is  represented  as  the  lord  of 
spirits  and  demons,  haunting  cemeteries  and  burying- 
grounds  in  terrible  array.     But  this  dreadful  being  some- 


6o  VEDISM  ;    OK,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

times  relaxes,  for  he  is  elsewhere  represented  as  Bhola 
Nath,  or  the  Simple  Lord,  because  he  is  always  intoxi- 
cated, and  in  this  condition  rolling  and  rollicking  in  mad 
frenzy.* 

The  Sakti  or  wife  of  this  terrible  god  is  Durga,  a  fit- 
ting spouse  for  such  a  lord.  She  has  ten  arms,  each 
filled  with  terrible  weapons.  Another  favorite  form  of 
this  goddess  is  that  known  as  Kali.  She  is  represented 
as  a  very  black  female  with  four  arms,  holding  in  one  a 
scymetar,  in  the  other  a  gigantic  head  by  the  hair.  She 
wears  two  dead  bodies  for  ear-rings  and  a  necklace  of 
skulls,  while  her  tongue  hangs  down  to  her  chin.  She 
is  represented  as  drunk  with  the  blood  of  the  giants 
whom  she  has  destroyed ;  her  eyes  are  bloodshot,  while 
blood  is  falling  in  a  stream  down  her  breast. 

This  is  the  amiable  goddess  who  is  the  chief  object 
of  worship  among  the  inhabitants  of  Bengal.  At  her 
shrine,  a  crimson  carnage  still  distinguishes  the  sacrifice 
best  pleasing  to  her. 

This  terrible  thi?'d  of  the  Hindu  triad  is,  as  may  be 
imagined,  the  personification  of  irascibility  and  vindictive- 

*  There  is  no  representation  of  this  god  so  common  and  so  popular,  how- 
ever, as  the  phallic  symbol  known  as  the  Ungam.  The  origin  of  this 
abominable  worship  is  unknown,  but  there  are  stories  in  the  puranas  on 
the  subject,  which  are  too  vile  for  reproduction.  And  yet  this  scandalous 
image  is  worshipped  by  men  and  women  with  sui-passing  relish  everywhere, 
in  the  open  field,  on  the  way  side,  in  temples,  from  the  Himalayas  to  Cape 
Comorin,  and  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ganges  to  that  of  the  Indus. 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  6l 

ness.  On  one  occasion,  being  disturbed  at  his  devotion, 
fire  darted  from  his  middle  eye  and  consumed  the  unfor- 
tunate god  who  had  dared  to  disturb  him.  In  a  drunken 
fit,  he  struck  off  the  head  of  his  son,  and  when  reproached 
by  his  wife  for  the  act,  he  replaced  it  by  the  head  of  an 
elephant, — hence  Ganesha,  the  popular  god  of  good  luck, 
whose  uncouth  representation  adorns  almost  every  house 
and  every  shop  in  India. 

Such  is  the  Hindu-  tri-juurti,  or  triad  of  gods!  As 
before  remarked,  Brahma  is  little  more  than  a  name ;  the 
orthodoxy  of  modern  Hinduism  is  divided  between  the 
worship  of  Vishnu  and  Shiva.  The  former  are  called 
Vaishnavas,  the  latter  Saivas.  They  write  their  sectarian 
badges  upon  their  forehead  In  red,  yellow  or  white 
pigments ;  the  Vishnu  worshippers  being  distinguished 
by  two  perpendicular  strokes  meeting  below  in  a  curve, 
while  the  Saivas  mark  themselves  with  three  horizontal 
lines.  While  there  are  points  of  contact  and  lines  of 
affinity  between  these  two  chief  sects,  there  is  enough 
difference  to  make  a  radical  discord.  Each  party  is  in 
possession  of  legends  and  fables  giving  his  patron  god 
the  palm  of  superiority  over  the  other.  This  sectarian 
feud  is  fed  by  the  particular  form  of  religious  thought 
and  worship,  which  each  professes.  The  worship  of 
Vishnu,  through  its  avatars,  professes  to  bring  God  down  to 
man  for  his  service  and  worship  ;  the  worship  of  Shiva,  en- 
deavours to  raise  him  by  religious  austerities  to  the  power 


62  VEDISM  ;    OR,   SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

of  Deity ;  the  first  is  tlie  way  of  sensuous  worship,  the 
second  of  austere  and  self-denying  effort.  Hence  we  find 
that  while  Vaishnavism  is  the  most  popular,  Saivism  is 
the  most  powerful,  representing  as  it  does  the  self-deny- 
ing fanaticism  of  modern  Hinduism. 

Beside  and*  below  this  celebrated  tri-iJiiirti,  the  Hindu 
pantheon,  in  its  vast  assemblage  of  thirty-three  crores  of 
gods,  furnishes  a  deity  for  every  want,  and  every  exigency 
of  human  life.  Every  season,  every  month,  every  day 
has  its  presiding  deity  ;  every  distress,  every  calamity, 
every  ailment*  has  its  appropriate  protector ;  even  the 
itch  has  its  god.  Indeed,  there  is  no  object  so  mean,  so 
ignoble  as  to  be  below  Hindu  worship.  Snails  and 
serpents,  fire  and  water,  sticks  and  stones,  are  each  and 
all  deified  and  worshipped.  Such  is  the  degrading  and 
senseless  polytheism  which  Hinduism  has  reached  by 
the  law  of  moral  gravitation,  notwithstanding  its  ideal 
creed  of  One  Brahm  without  a  second ! 

But,  secondly,  what  is  the  Hindu's  conception  of  man's 
own  being  and  nature  ?  True  to  his  Vedantic  belief,  he 
maintains  that  Brahm  really  exists,  and  only  Brahm. 
The  universe  is  but  a  form  of  Brahm.  The  hum^an  body 
is  but  a  temporary  envelopment  of  matter,  through  which 
the  soul  exercises  thought,  consciousness  and  sensation. 
This  envelopment,  however,  must  be  dissolved  and  re- 
erected  in  some  other  form,  through  which  the  soul  must 
pass  from  age  to  age.     But  what  is  the  Soul — the  real 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  63 

man  ?  It  is  an  emanation  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  and  unto 
Him  it  must  return.  The  Hindu  beUeves,  without  quali- 
fication or  reserve,  that  his  inner  spirit,  that  which  goes 
from  body  to  body — is  the  Deity  !  The  Supreme  Spirit 
is  individuated  by  union  with  particular  portions  of 
matter,  and  we  call  these  individuated  Souls,  men  ;  they 
are  in  reality,  God  himself.  • 

But  man  is  conscious  of  imperfections,  of  limitations, 
totally  opposed  to  the  idea  of  his  being,  in  part,  the 
Divine  Spirit.  He  is,  moreover,  conscious  of  personal 
identity,  and  personal  wholeness.  No  matter ;  these  are 
but  the  effects  of  the  Maya,  or  illusion  with  which  he  is 
enveloped.  Indeed,  these  constitute  the  source  of  his 
misery  and  wretchedness ;  let  him  reject  the  testimony 
of  his  consciousness,  and  recognize  the  truth  "  Ahang 
BraJiui','  I  am  Brahm,  and  he  is  free. 

But  if  man's  soul  is  Brahm,  then  all  his  sins  and  mis- 
deeds are  God's  ?  However  monstrous  the  proposition, 
it  is  the  logical  outcome  of  the  Hindu's  position, 
and  he  does  not  shrink  from  it.  Brahm  is  the  origin 
and  the  author  of  all  evil.  There  is  no  deed,  however 
wicked,  but  he  traces  to  the  Supreme  spirit ;  he,  the  in- 
dividuated spirit,  is  helpless  in  its  environment. 

This  being  the  Hindu's  view  of  his  own  nature,  we 
are  prepared  for  his  conception  of  full  and  final 
blessedness.  Regarding  himself  as  a  spark  of  Divinity, 
imprisoned  and  incarcerated  in  an  envelopment  of  matter, 


64  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

he  looks  forward  with  dismay  to  the  almost  endless  vista 
of  births  and  dissolutions  before  him.  He  believes  him- 
self fettered  to  an  illusive  and  changeful  existence  through 
eighty-four  lakhs,  or  eighty-four  hundred  thousand  births 
and  dissolutions.  How  many  of  these  are  past  he  does 
not  know ;  how  many  yet  remain,  he  cannot  conjecture. 
Now  he  is  a  man — a  Brahman,  perhaps ;  what  was  he 
before  ?  Perhaps  a  reptile,  a  flea,  a  stone,  rising  in  the 
scale  of  honorable  and  intelligent  being.  Or,  perhaps,  he 
was  a  king,  a  demi-god,  an  inhabitant  of  heaven  for  a 
season,  but  now  doomed  to  disgrace  and  downfall ! 
Whither  is  he  going  ?  He  does  not  know ;  he  may 
ascend,  or  be  degraded  still  lower.  What  were  his  deeds 
and  deserts  in  previous  births  ?  He  has  no  knowledge  ; 
yet  he  sternly  believes  that  their  effect  for  good  or  for 
evil  pursues  him  inexorably,  and  cannot  be  counteracted 
by  anything  he  can  do  now. 

What  is  he  to  do  ?  Whither  is  he  to  escape  ?  If  he 
discharges  his  duties  aris^ht,  and  lives  a  life  of  virtue  and 
integrity,  he  may,  unless  his  goodness  be  counteracted 
by  the  evil  of  his  past  births,  which  is  quite  likely,  rise 
to  be  a  king  in  a  future  birth.  If  there,  he  rule  equitably 
and  fulfill  all  his  religious  duties  sacredly,  he  may  in  the 
next  birth  be  born  in  heaven ;  he  may  spend  thousands 
of  ages  there  ;  but  he  must  again  descend  and  take  other 
forms,  and  reap  the  full  fruit  of  his  actions  for  good  and 
for  evil,  until  the  dread  appointed  tale  of  births  and  disso- 


VEDIS.M  ;    UK,    SPECULATIVE    HSNDUISM.  65 

lutions  is  over.  No  rest  of  heart,  no  firm  or  stable  step- 
ping-place  for  the  foot,  until  this  interminable  tunnel  of 
gloom  and  darkness  is  crossed.  Until! — Millions  of 
years  must  pass,  ages  upon  ages  must  go  by,  before  this 
darksome  passage  is  traversed. 

This  being  the  Hindu's  future,  his  sumimnn  bomini  is 
liberation.  And  what  is  liberation  ?  Release  from  the 
illusive  spell  which  binds  him  with  fetters  inexorable  to 
an  uncertain  and  distressing  existence,  so  that  the  spark 
divine  of  his  individuated  soul  may  ascend  to  and  be 
absorbed  in  Brahm,  the  Supreme  Spirit.  Death  of  per- 
sonal conscious  existence  is  the  Hindu's  alternative  to 
the  positive  annihilation  of  Buddism.  And  this  is  his 
full,  his  final  blessedness  !  For  this  he  struggles,  and 
weeps,  and  worships !  For  this  he  tortures  his  body, 
and  destroys  his  sensibilities,  and  endeavours  to  make 
his  mind  and  intellect  a  senseless  blank !  This 
end  which  he  believes  to  be  inevitable  at  the  termin- 
ation of  the  full  appointed  tale  of  births  and  dissolutions, 
he  believes,  may,  nevertheless,  be  reached  by  a  quicker 
route.  The  dread  **  eighty-four  "  may  be  sundered,  cut 
short ;  and  the  final  blessedness  of  absorption  into  Brahm 
secured  without  the  necessity  of  traversing  the  whole 
dreary  course  of  the  dark  labyrinth. 

We  thus  come,  lastly,  to  the  means  enjoined  in  the 
Hindu  system  for  attaining  to  this  greatly  desired  end. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem,  this  suniniuDi  boiiuni  is  not  at- 


66  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

tainable  by  works  of  merit,  or  even  by  a  life  of  goodness 
and  virtue.  Work,  whether  good  or  bad,  demands  recog- 
nition and  recompense,  and  these  only  continue  the  dreary 
round  of  existence.  The  soul  must  get  to  a  position 
beyond  working  and  striving,  beyond  planning  and  pur- 
posing, beyond  wishing  and  desiring.  Becoming  utterly 
insensible  to  these,  dead  to  the  illusive  personality  of 
being,  the  soul  must  rise  to  recognize  its  essential  iden- 
tity with  Brahm.  This  is  to  be  gained  by  severe  and 
abstracted  meditation,  under  the  guidance  of  a  Guru,  or 
teacher.  Sankaracharya,  one  of  their  most  renowned 
writers,  thus  puts  it :  '*  The  recluse,  pondering  the 
teacher's  words,  *  Thou  art  the  Supreme  Being,'  and  re- 
ceiving the  text  of  the  Vedas,  '  I  am  God,'  having  thus 
in  three  several  ways — by  the  teacher's  precept,  by  the 
word  of  God,  by  his  own  contemplation — persuaded  him- 
self '  I  am  God,'  obtains  liberation."  Hence,  deliverance 
from  ignorance,  or  true  knowledge,  is  the  way  leading  to 
this  much  coveted  consummation ;  and  this  way  is 
accordingly  called  Gyan-Mdj-g^  or  the  knowledge-way. 

There  are  thousands  of  Yogis  in  India  to-day,  who,  by 
various  processes,  are  seeking  this  way  of  knowledge,  and 
through  it,  to  liberation  and  absorption.  Living  in  caves 
and  jungles  and  desert  places,  renouncing  all  earthly  ties 
and  bonds,  practicing,  if  not  actually  attaining  to,  com- 
plete deadness  to  eternal  sensibilities  and  passions, — their 
existence,  in  its  outward  aspect  at  least,  becomes  as  dead 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  67 

and  as  complete  a  blank  as  this  sacred  nihilism  can  re- 
quire. But  alas- !  for  the  delusion  which  enchains  them  ; 
the  tortured  and  emaciated  body,  the  vacant,  wandering 
mind,  the  persistent  self-persuasion  of  identity  with 
Brahm,  bring  these  infatuated  devotees  no  nearer  to 
union  with  the  Supreme  Spirit. 

This  way  of  deliverance  is,  of  course,  not  suited  to  the 
multitude.  All  cannot  become  recluses ;  the  ordinary 
calling  and  craft  of  the  masses  must  continue,  and  this 
way  of  knowledge  is  therefore  unsuited  to  them.  Another 
way,  therefore,  has  been  devised  for  the  common  herd, 
which,  although  tortuous  and  uncertain,  conduces,  the 
Brahmans  say,  to  the  same  end.  This  is  the  way  of 
works  or  Karma  Mdrg.  A  strict  observance  of  caste 
requirements,  obedience  and  gifts  to  the  Brahmans,  and 
worship  of  the  gods  with  all  its  parade  and  paraphernalia, 
constitute  the  main  features  of  this  way  of  works  devised 
for  the  multitude. 

As  to  caste,  the  original  four  have  been  divided  and 
subdivided  into  an  infinitesimal  labyrinth  of  distinctions. 
The  old  rigor  and  jealousy,  too,  with  which  those  distinc- 
tions were  maintained,  have,  in  many  particulars  given  way 
before  the  advance  of  broad  and  progressive  culture. 
The  Brahman  and  the  Sudra  rub  shoulders  together  in 
the  same  street  and  steam  car ;  sit  upon  the  same  bench 
and  look  out  of  the  same  book  in  school  and  inadrassa ; 
and  refresh  themselves  with  ice  manufactured  from  water 


68  VEniSM ;  or,  speculative  Hinduism. 

and  other  compounds  by  low  caste  men,  or  worse,  the 
Europeans.  Still,  for  each  of  these  violations  of  caste 
rigidity, some  sacred  excuse  is  devised;  and  the  old  restric- 
tions with  regard  to  intercourse  between  the  several  castes 
are  still  strictly  enforced.  To  use  the  just  and  forcible 
words  of  the  hido  Prakasli,  a  native  reforming  journal, 
this  caste  system  ''cripples  the  independent  action  of 
individuals,  sows  the  seed  of  bitter  discord  between  the 
different  sections  of  society,  encourages  to  most  abomin- 
able practices,  and  dries  up  all  the  springs  of  that  social, 
moral  and  intellectual  freedom  which  alone  can  secure 
greatness,  whether  to  individuals  or  nations."  The  lav/ 
of  caste  supersedes  the  law  of  conscience,  and  a  man  may 
cheat,  thieve  or  lie  without  social  or  religious  penalties, 
while  a  breach  of  caste  rule  would  at  once  put  upon  him 
the  terrible  ban  of  ostracisation  from  his  own  family  and 
kindred,  and  excommunication  from  every  religious  right 
and  privilege. 

Homage  to  the  Brahmans  is  another  sacred  duty. 
At  every  domestic  incident,  birth,  marriage  or  death; 
at  every  mela  and  worshipping  shrine ;  at  every 
eclipse,  lunar  and  solar,  and  at  all  the  appointed  feast 
days,  which  are  legion,  there  must  be  a  special  feeing  of  this 
sacred  class.  Besides  this,  there  are  hungry  strolling 
Brahmans  by  the  hundreds,  who  have  only  to  pass  along 
the  streets  and  shops,  striking  their  greedy  belly 
with  their  palms,   and   uttering   the  well-known   cry — 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  69 

*' Brahman  Iiai  f ''  to  exact  their  customaiy  tribute.  In 
addition  to  all  this  again,  there  is  not  a  well-to-do  Hindu 
but  has  his  religious  teacher  or  Guru,  and  the  homage 
paid  to  such  teacher  is  only  surpassed  by  the  greedy 
rapacity  of  the  Gtcru  himself.  This  Guru  is  often  re- 
garded by  the  poor  Hindu  as  his  particular  deity,  and  is 
worshipped  and  adored  as  a  substitute  for  the  gods  them- 
selves. Of  course,  he  is  not  slack  in  pursuing  his  claims, 
and  the  religious  Hindu  is  bound  to  do  his  utmost  to 
gratify  his  every  wish. 

The  worship  of  the  gods  is  of  course  an  urgent 
requirement.  The  common  people  know  very  little  of 
the  gods  themselves  ;  their  little  scrap  of  information  is 
picked  up  from  the  fragments  of  the  great  Epic  poems 
which  are  sung  or  chanted  by  the  Brahmans.  Mahadeo, 
or  S/iha, — under  the  vile  representation  of  the  lingam, 
Krishna,  the  lewd  Apollo  of  Hinduism,  Rdnia  Chandra, 
the  mythical  king  of  Ayodhya,  and  GanesJia,  the  elephant- 
headed  son  of  Shiva,  are  the  favorite  gods  of  the  multitude. 
Among  the  goddesses,  Lakshmi,  the  spouse  of  Vishnu, 
and  the  bloody  Durga  or  Kali,  and  Rddha,  the  adulter- 
ous companion  of  Krishna  are  chiefly  worshipped.  In 
temples,  in  groves,  by  the  river  side,  the  multitudes  pros- 
trate themselves,  offer  their  oblations  and  go  their  way. 
There  are  particular  shrines  and  worshipping  places, 
which  must  be  visited  at  particular  seasons. 

The   rudest    representations  are  chosen  for  worship; 


yO  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

among  the  numberless  idols  of  the  Hindus,  there  is  not 
one  distinguished  for  grace  or  symmetry  of  form.  Often, 
but  a  block  of  stone  is  taken,  set  up  under  a  tree,  anointed 
with  Vermillion  and  adopted  as  the  Deity. 

What  is  the  particular  viev/  taken  by  the  worshipper 
of  the  idol  before  which  he  bows  ?  The  learned  view  it 
as  a  symbol  and  a  reminder  of  the  Deity ;  the  mystical,  as 
containing,  through  the  charms  and  invocations  offered,  the 
spiritual  presence  of  the  god  represented  ;  but  the  ignor- 
ant multitude  regard  the  idol  as  really  and  truly  God. 

The  repetition  of  the  name  of  a  god  is  considered  an 
acceptable  and  important  form  of  worship.  Hence  the 
religious  Hindu  will  employ  the  name  of  Rama  as  often 
as  possible  in  his  ordinary  conversation.  His  usual  salu- 
tation is  "Rama!  Rama!"  He  expresses  his  amaze- 
ment, his  disgust,  with  **  Rama  !  Rama !  "  If  he  yawn 
or  sneeze,  he  will  repeat  Rama's  name ;  if  at  leisure, 
with  nothing  to  occupy  him,  he  will  dreamily  roll  his 
beads  and  repeat  this  name.  It  is  not  at  all  necessary 
that  he  should  think  upon  his  god,  as  he  repeats  his 
name,  or  even  that  he  should  be  consciously  intelligent 
of  the  exercise.  It  is  the  sound  of  the  name,  not  the 
sincerity  or  purpose  of  the  worshipper,  which  gives 
potency  to  the  exercise.  A  Bhil,*  we  are  told,  unwittingly 
killed  a  Brahman,  and  was  instructed  to  constantly  repeat 
the  word   Maj'd  (dead)  as  an   expiation  for  this   grave 

*  A  tribe  of  Mountain  robbers. 


VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  7I 

offence.  He  did  so  for  years,  the  syllable  Mara, 
Mara,  repeated  rapidly,  forming  the  powerful  invocation 
Rama !  Rama  I  Vishnu,  accordingly,  appeared  to  the 
man,  and  granted  him  enlightenment,  so  that  he  became 
the  well-known  Brahman  Valmiki,  the  author  of  the 
Ramayana.. 

One  of  the  most  degrading  results  of  this  idol  worship 
has  been  the  formation  of  secret  sects  or  societies,  called 
Vamacdri?is,  or  left-hand  worshippers.  These  societies 
devote  themselves  to  the  worship  of  the  female  counter- 
parts of  the  deities,  or  Saktis,  and  hence  are  known  as 
Saktas.  The  religious  ceremonies  of  this  class  of  per- 
sons are  performed  at  night,  in  secret.  At  these  mid- 
night orgies,  men  and  women  unite ;  the  restraints  of 
caste  are  for  the  time  laid  aside,  and  lust  and  sensuality 
reign  supreme  in  the  sacred  name  of  religion.  So  utterly 
vile  are  these  religious  exercises  that  it  is  verily  "  a  shame 
to  speak  of  the  things  which  are  done  by  them  in  secret." 
Thus  by  means  the  most  contrary, — the  deadening  of 
bodily  appetites  and  passions,  and  their  most  brutal  grati- 
fication,— the  infatuated  Hindu  aims  at  liberation  from 
the  coils  of  a  burdensome  existence ;  if  haply,  by  some 
means,  his  luckless  life  might  be  lost  in  eternal  oblivion  ! 

Such  is  a  cursory  view  of  Hinduism,  as  a  system ;  a 
plunge  downward,  with  ever -increasing  momentum, 
through  the  centuries,  on  the  downgrade  of  moral  gravi- 
tation !     Have  none  arisen  to  stay  the  sliding,  to  stem 


72  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

the  torrent  of  degradation  and  ignorance?  Yes,  reform- 
ers have  appeared  and  protested  against  various  phases 
of  the  great  evil ;  they  have  attracted  disciples,  lived  their 
brief  span  and  died.  Some  of  the  sects  thus  formed  con- 
tinue to  this  day,  but  their  influence  is  powerless  against 
the  mammoth  superstition  of  Hinduism.  The  fact  is, 
they  are  themselves  blighted  with  its  deadly  breath,  and 
must  in  the  end  succumb  to  its  power. 

The  most  powerful  protest  offered  in  late  years  to  the 
pretensions  of  this  gigantic  superstition  has  been  by  the 
BraJunos^  or  members  of  the  theistical  societies  organized 
chiefly  in  Bengal.  This  movement  was  organized  in 
1 8 14,  by  the  v/ell-known  Brahman,  Raja  Ram  Mohun 
Roy.  He  contended  for  the  abolition  of  Sati,  and  for 
the  promotion  of  education ;  and  preached  a  pure  mono- 
theism as  founded  upon  the  Vedas.  Upon  his  decease, 
the  movement  was  carried  forward  by  leaders  of  ability 
and  courage,  making  broader  and  bolder  sweeps  of 
reformation,  until,  under  the  late  Keshub  Chunder  Sen, 
the  last  vestige  of  caste  restrictions  and  veneration  for 
the  Vedanta,  were  thrown  over.  The  result  was  a  belief 
in  the  "  fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man- 
kind." As  might  be  expected  from  a  creed  so  broad 
and  vague,  the  most  erratic  conceptions  have  mingled 
with  their  profession  and  worship.  Still  the  Brahmo 
Somaj,  with  all  its  divisions  and  vagaries,  is  a  standing 
protest  against  polytheism,  caste  and  sacerdotalism  ;  and 


VEDISM  ;    ok,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM.  73 

many  who  have  toiled  and  prayed  for  the  regeneration 
of  India  have  turned  their  eye  hopefully  to  what  promised 
to  be  a  vestibule  into  the  sanctuary  of  Christian  faith  and 
rest.  Braluiioisin,  however,  as  a  ruling  factor  in  the 
religious  life  of  the  nation,  can  exert  but  an  ephemeral 
influence :  it  lacks  the  stability  of  an  authoritative  reve- 
lation, the  inspiration  of  a  living  embodiment ! 

From  the  above  sketch,  it  will  appear  that  the  old 
Indo  Aryan  race,  after  a  busy  round  of  forty  centuries, 
with  their  panoramic  exhibition  of  pantheism,  polytheism 
and  fetichism,  are  looking  to-day,  as  they  did  then, 
toward  the  One  Great,  Supreme  Spirit !  The  circle  ends 
where  it  began,  although  its  diameter  covers  four  thous- 
and years.  Through  all  these  changes  of  creed  and  pro- 
fession, though  all  these  religious  and  ceremonial  manipu- 
lations, there  throbs  the  desire  to  know  God  !  With  eyes 
blindfold,  yet  with  hands  outstretched  in  anxious  search, 
the  nation  gropes  after  God  !  Oh  !  what  a  horror  of  dark- 
ness,— a  darkness  that  may  be  felt, — yet  from  that  dark- 
ness there  comes  the  wild  cry  for  help. 

The  ground  is  crumbling  on  every  side.    Broad  gaps  and 

deep  fissures  shake  the   heavy  edifice   to  its  foundation. 

Its  interior   is    honeycombed  with   its   own   corruption ; 

administrative  and  political  reforms  with  pick  and  spade 

of  advancing  culture  have  dug  about  its  basement ;  secular 

and  religious  education  have  mined  the  foundations,  while 

active  evangelistic  effort  has  torn  away  many  a  bold  ramp- 
4 


74  VEDISM  ;    OR,    SPECULATIVE    HINDUISM. 

art  and  demolished  many  an  overhanging  balcony.  The 
hoary  edifice  of  Hinduism  must  fall,  and  the  absorbing, 
resounding  question  is  not  when,  but  whither  ?  Shall 
it  splash  into  the  dark,  seething  waters  of  religious  nihil- 
ism which  gape  at  its  feet  ?  The  engines  of  destruction 
are  surely  and  steadily  at  work.  Shaken  from  the  moor- 
.  ings  of  their  ancient  faith,  from  their  traditional  customs, 
shall  the  millions  of  India  be  given  over  to  a  Saharan 
scepticism,  whose  dust  is  blindness,  whose  sunbeams  are 
death  ? 

Hasten  to  the  rescue,  ye  men  and  women  of  God !  A 
mighty  crisis  is  at  hand ;  a  great  nation  is  to  be  led  forth 
from  a  captivity  worse  than  Egypt's  ;  the  gates  of  brass 
are  already  bursting  asunder,  and  the  command  waits  to 
be  given  *' Go  forth!"  But  a  roaring  sea,  the  Red  Sea 
of  sceptical  soul-carnage,  rages  before,  threatening  to 
engulph  them.  Oh  for  the  Moseses  of  faith  and  devo- 
tion to  lead  this  downtrodden  nation  into  the  land  of  rest 
and  plenty !  Oh !  for  the  Aarons  of  holy  fervor  and 
sanctity  to  go  before,  while  the  waters  part  in  twain,  and 
the  redeemed  of  India  go  forth,  dry-shod,  into  the  Canaan 
of  Christian  life  and  liberty!  Oh  for  the  joyful  and  tri- 
umphant Miriams  to  '*  sound  the  loud  timbrel "  in  token 
of  eternal  salvation  and  victory  !     Ah  1 

"  Who  will  answer,  quickly  saying, 
Here  am  I,  send  me,  send  me!  " 


III. 

GANGA  MAI;* 


OR. 


Practical  Hinduism. 


Traditional  religion  is  the  product  of  numerous  and 
diverse  elements.  The  history  of  a  country, — its  myths 
and  legends,  its  facts  and  fiction ; — the  social  customs  of 
the  people,  their  habits  and  manner,  their  forms  and  fash- 
ions ; — the  political  contour  of  the  government,  its  rights 
and  restraints,  its  presei'ves  and  penalties, — all  contribute 
to  mould  the  religious  belief  and  practice  of  the  people. 
Nay,  more ;  the  physical  features  of  the  country — its 
geography,  geology,  archaeology, — all  go  to  make  up  the 
sum  total  of  its  traditional  theology. 

Hinduism,  so  far  from  being  an  exception  to  this  rule, 
is,  from  its  cloud-wreathed  antiquity,  the  best  exemplifi- 
cation of  it.  As  a  system  of  religious  belief, — so  pro- 
found, so  puerile ;  so  vast,  so  contracted ;  so  abstruse,  so 
absurd, — it  is  inexplicable  save  as  the  total  product  of 
the  life-issue  of  a  nation,  second  to  no  other  in  age  and 

*  Literally,  Ganges  Mother. 

75 


jC)  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

adventure.  To  fathom  the  depths  of  this  turbid  sea  you 
must  dredge  sanal  and  silt,  sound  rock  and  reef;  nay,  strain 
even  the  froth  and  foam  which  dance  on  its  billows. 
Partial  and  one-sided  views  are  easilv  taken  and  tena- 
ciously  maintained,  but  they  are  caricatures  at  best  of  the 
whole  truth.  Here  is  one  who  lauds  Brahmanical  moral- 
ity and  virtue  to  the  skies  ;  here  is  another  who  discounts 
the  entire  system  of  its  ethical  teaching !  Here  is  one 
who  sees  nothing  but  depths  of  profundity  and  heights 
of  sublimity  in  Hindu  philosophy ;  here  is  another  who 
is  unable  to  detect  a  grain  of  sound  wisdom  in  the  slush 
of  its  absurdity.  Macaulay  pronounces  it  *'  of  all  super- 
stitions the  most  irrational,  the  most  inelegant  and  the 
most  immoral."  *  Ballantyne  characterizes  it  as  **  a  calm, 
clear,  collected  exposition  of  principles."  f  Who  is  right, 
Macaulay  or  Ballantyne  ?  Neither ;  both.  Neither  wholly ; 
both  partially.  And  the  reason  is  obvious.  Hinduism 
is  the  commixture, — not  the  commingling — of  diverse 
features  of  thought;  it  is  a  mosaic  of  different  hues,  some 
of  them  totally  inharmonious  and  unblending ;  and  the 
selection  of  one  or  a  few  favorite  colors,  with  the  warm- 
est and  truest  expatiation  of  their  qualities,  cannot  cor- 
rectly represent  the  whole. 

Thus,  in  order  to  get  a  fairly  accurate  view  of  Hinduism 
as  a  practical  religious   system,  it  is  infinitely  better  to 

*  Speech  on  the  Gates  of  Somnauth. 
t  "  Bible  for  the  Pundits." 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  jy 

take  into  view  some  phase  of  its  actual  working,  than  to 
pick  out  one  or  more  abstract  features  of  its  poHcy  or 
philosophy,  and  descant  upon  their  merits  or  demerits. 
In  this  cake  of  many  and  diverse  compounds,  if  we 
would  have  a  fairly  correct  view  of  the  whole, — better 
slice  off  a  clear  cut  from  end  to  end,  no  matter  how 
rough  and  jagged  the  cut,  than  to  pick  out  a  few  of  the 
ingredients  according  to  fancy  or  taste,  and  then  smack 
the  lips  or  wry  our  mouth,  as  they  may  affect  our  palate. 

Such  a  specimen  slice  of  practical  Hinduism  we  pro- 
pose to  serve  up  in  the  muddy  platter  of  the  Ganga 
River  bed.  Muddy,  indeed,  and  bedaubed  with  the  pud- 
dle and  slush  of  ages, — yet  laden  with  sacred  interest  as 
the  object  of  hope  and  adoration  to  five  thousand  genera- 
tions of  a  nation  leading  the  van  in  philosophy  and 
culture,  when  the  world  around  was  buried  in  dark- 
ness. 

Mighty  Ganga !  An  overwhelming  awe  chains  the 
senses  and  holds  the  mind  in  speechless  subjugation, 
as  we  traverse  the  dazzling  heights  of  the  Himalayan 
mountain  chain,  in  search  of  the  first  springs  of  its  sacred 
waters.  Attaining  an  elevation  of  14,000  feet  above  sea 
level,  we  face  the  world  of  glaciers,  with  its  interminable 
barriers  of  eternal  snow.  Oak  and  cedar  have  long  since 
disappeared  ;  pines  have  grown  scarce  ;  only  white  birch, 
silver  firs  and  dwarf  rhododendrons  occupy  the  dark 
patches  of  mountain  rock  not  covered  by  glistening  snow. 


yS  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

A  deep  gorge  or  valley  with  precipitous  walls  of  almost 
vertical  rock  lies  before  us ;  it  is  the  bed  of  the  sacred 
stream.  Glancing  above  the  valley,  seventeen  mountain 
peaks,  draped  in  dazzling  white  to  their  very  base,  pierce 
the  heavens,  the  lowest  exceeding  20,000  feet  in  elevation. 
Most  conspicuous  among  these,  from  their  colossal  pro- 
portions, are  the  five  peaks  of  the  mighty  Samero 
Purbut  of  Rudru  Himaleh,  enclosing  a  sort  of  semi- 
circular amphitheatre  filled  with  snow,  where  Mahadeo  * 
(the  Great  god)  sits  enthroned  in  supreme  majesty,  sur- 
rounded by  clouds  and  mists,  and  wastes  of  impassable 
snow. 

Ascending  the  valley  or  gorge,  we  come  at  length  upon 
a  huge  embankment  of  frozen  snow,  200  feet  high  per- 
pendicularly, extending  right  across  the  valley,  here  nearly 
three-quarters  of  a  mile  broad.  At  the  base  of  this 
glacier,  is  a  tunnel-like  chasm,  or  low  arch,  called  the 
Cow's  Mouth,  through  which  the  Ganga  issues  forth,  with 
a  width  of  thirty  feet  and  a  depth  of  from  one  to  three 
feet.  This  is  commonly  regarded  as  the  source  of  the 
Ganga,  but  as  the  stream  is  here  already  a  full  and 
rapidly  flowing  river,  we  are  disposed  to  search  farther  up 
for  the  mysterious  first-springs  of  the  sacred  stream. 

Climbing  up  this  huge  glacier  which  gradually  slopes 
upward  towards  the  snow-clad  mountains  beyond,  we 
find  its  surface  ridged  by  deep  and  serried  hollows,  filled 
*  A  name  of  Shiva,  the  third  in  the  Hindu  triad. 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 


79 


in  places  with  clear,  pellucid  water  more  than  a  hundred 
yards  deep.  Fantastic  peaks  and  pinnacles  of  translucent 
ice  uprise  here  and  there,  reflecting  beautiful  prismatic 
colors  under  the  bright  rays  of  the  sun.  All  around,  the 
horizon  is  bounded  by  a  continuous  unbroken  barrier  of 
snowy  ridges,  crowned  by  towering  peaks  and  majestic 
summits.  *'  Here  seasons  never  change  :  unbroken  win- 
ter ever  reigns." 

But  look  upward  towards  the  head  of  the  glacier.  Is 
that  Niagara  instantaneously  frozen  before  us  ?  It  must 
be ;  yet,  no, — for  it  is  infinitely  grander,  more  sublime, 
more  stupendous  !  A  tremendous  cataract,  raging,  writh- 
ing, foaming,  suddenly  caught  and  transfixed  in  frozen 
snow.  What  a  spectacle.  Above,  around,  beneath,  the 
solemnity  of  an  awful  and  preternatural  solitude  reigns ! 
In  this  majestic  cathedral,  of  snowy  aisles  and  granite 
columns,  and  canopy  of  deep  cerulean  firmament,  one 
Presence  reigns  supreme,  and  we  instinctively  exclaim, 
with  Coleridge : 

Ye  ice-falls  !  ye  that  from  the  mountain's  brow 
Adown  enonnous  ravines  slope  amain, — 
Torrents,  methinks,  that  heard  a  mighty  voice, 
And  stopped  at  once  amidst  their  maddest  plunge ! 
Motionless  torrents  !     Silent  cataracts  ! 
Who  made  you  glorious  as  the  gate  of  heaven 
Beneath  the  keen  full  moon  ?     Who  bade  the  sun 
Clothe  you  with  rainbows  ?     Who  with  living  flowers 
Of  loveliest  blue,  spread  garlands  at  your  feet  ? 
God  !     Let  the  torrents,  'like  a  shout  of  nations 
Answer !  and  let  the  ice-plains  echo,  God  ! 


80  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

And  now,  looking  clown,  behold  an  immense  longitu- 
dinal chasm  in  the  glacier  upon  which  we  stand.  In  some 
places,  this  chasm  is  completely  arched  over  with  solid 
ice ;  in  others  it  appears  to  have  been  closed  or  bridged 
by  blocks  having  fallen  in  from  above.  Peering  down 
into  this  glassy  chamber,  you  may  see  clusters  of  gigantic 
icicles  exceeding  fifty  feet  in  length,  hanging  from  the 
underfaces  of  the  walls  on  either  side,  while  stalactites 
of  translucent  ice,  like  massive  pillars,  support  the  crystal 
vault.  Deep  dow^n  in  this  chasm,  glides,  weird-like,  the 
slender  rill  which  swells  hereafter  into  the  full  tide  of  the 
mighty  Ganga,*  with  rush  and  roar  and  loud  reverbera- 
tion ;  tumbling,  tossing,  laughing,  sighing,  the  swift  cur- 
rent makes  haste  to  quit  its  icy  bed  for  the  genial  sun- 
warmth  below.  On,  on, — though  but  a  baby  rill  as  yet, 
— to  water  and  fertilize  half  a  continent  swarming  with 
population  ;  to  become  the  main  artery  of  commerce  and 
navigation  to  the  country,  until  upon  its  waters  rides  a 
mine  of  wealth  computed  annually  at  twelve  million 
pounds  sterling;  to  wash  the  feet  of  scores  of  populous 
cities ;  to  receive  the  incense  of  praise  and  adoration 
from  millions  of  devoted  votaries ;  and  to  bear  down  to 
the  ocean,  after  a  winding  length  of  1500  miles,  not  only 
enough  sand  and  silt  in  a  year  to  build  sixty  Great 
Pyramids,  but  the  heavier,  fouler  burden  of  a  vast  and 
by  no  means  too  virtuous  nation's  sins  and  shortcomings. 

*  Taken  chiefly  from  the  graphic  Author  of  "  Forest  and  Field." 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  8  I 

At  this  awful  and  inaccessible  height  but  few  pilgrims 
venture.  The  place  is  too  sacred  for  mortal  tread. 
Here,  according  to  current  tradition,  Himavat,  the  god  of 
the  mountains,  dwells.  In  these  misty  wastes,  the  mighty 
Shiva  or  Mahadeo  practiced  those  terrible  austerities, 
which  raised  him  to  such  power  in  the  scale  of  god- 
head. Here  Durga  or  Parvati,  the  daughter  of  Himavat, 
— enamoured  of  Shiva,  laid  siege  to  his  heart.  But  she 
found  it  no  easy  matter  to  captivate  the  devout  Shiva, 
who  continued  absorbed  in  his  devotions  regardless  of  the 
charms  of  the  fair  wooer.  Himavat,  her  father,  oJDtained 
Shiva's  consent  to  his  daughter's  waiting  on  him  while  at 
his  devotion,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  be  thus  overcome  ; 
but  this  plan  failed.  The  stern  Shiva  was  proof  against  all 
her  offices  and  services  of  love.  Then  Kandarpa,  the  god 
of  love,  undertook  her  cause ;  and  watching  his  oppor- 
tunity, while  Shiv^a  opened  his  eyes  from  his  meditation 
to  receive  an  offering  of  flowers  and  a  necklace  from 
Parvati,  he  let  fly  his  arrow^  straight  at  the  mighty  deity: 
Though  smitten,  Shiva,  in  majestic  anger,  darted  one  look 
at  Kandarpa,  when  fire  issued  from  the  third  eye  in  the 
middle  of  Shiva's  forehead  and  reduced  Kandarpa  to 
ashes !  The  enraged  deity  left  the  place  for  another 
forest,  and  Parvati  desparing  of  success,  returned  home 
full  of  sorrow ! 

But  she  was  not  to  be  defeated  :  she  would  try  what 
religious  austerities  would  do  in  winning  the  stern  god's 


82  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

love.  And  now,  in  the  mist  and  upon  the  mountains, 
through  clouds  and  snow,  behold  her  engaging  in  a 
course  of  religious  performances,  whose  terrible  rigor 
fairly  alarmed  her  mother.  But  she  persevered,  deter- 
mined to  conquer,  until  Shiva,  overcome  and  vanquished, 
appeared  to  her  and  yielded  to  her  overtures.  But 
what  a  husband  had  she  won  !  Three-eyed,  toothless, 
clad  in  a  tiger's  skin,  encircled  with  snakes,  girdled  with 
skulls,  riding  on  a  wild  bull !  Alas !  if  ever  love  was 
blind,  it  was  here-.  Yet  married  they  were,  Shiva  and 
Parvati,  in  these  mountain-wastes,  to  the  wonderment  of 
the  entire  celestial  court.  Yet,  it  would  appear  that  the 
three-eyed  deity  did  not  make  so  good  a  bargain  after 
all,  for  Parvati  turned  out  to  be  a  veritable  shrew  and 
vexed  her  husband  with  strifes  and  jealousies ;  so  that 
to-day  she  is  represented  as  standing  with  one  foot  upon 
her  husband's  breast,  who  lies  prostrate  upon  the  ground 
at  her  feet. 

Passing  by  the  dizzy  theatre  of  these  god-like  scenes, 
we  descend  to  Gangoutri,  a  few  miles  below  the  Cow's 
Mouth,  where  the  famous  shrine  of  Ganga's  abode  attracts 
the  Hindu  pilgrim.  Scarped,  overhanging  cliffs,  fringed 
with  dark  pines  and  splintered  crags,  tower  up  on  every 
side,  while  through  dark  rifts  and  narrow  chasms,  the 
sacred  stream  forces  its  passage  in  a  succession  of  rapids 
at  certain  places  more  than  three  hundred  feet  deep.  On 
each  side  of  this  precipitous  channel  is  a  slope,  varying 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  3^ 

from  a  hundred  yards  to  half  a  mile  in  breadth,  well 
wooded  with  pine  and  cedar,  whilst  above  this  again  rise 
steep  lateral  cliffs,  fringed  with  pine  and  birch,  for  the 
most  part  covered  with  snow. 

On  the  right  bank,  about  fifteen  feet  above  the  stream, 
upon  a  slab  of  rock  (held  sacred  as  the  spot  upon  which 
Ganga  used  to  worship  Mahadeo  or  Shiva)  is  a  small 
unpretending  square  pagoda,  with  melon-shaped  roof, 
scarcely  twelve  feet  high,  surrounded  by  a  low  wall  of 
unhewn  stone.  This  insignificant-looking  edifice  is  the 
celebrated  temple  of  Gangoutri,  one  of  the  most  revered 
shrines  of  Hindu  worship,  being  universally  regarded  as 
the  actual  abode  of  the  goddess  Ganga.  On  entering  the 
little  courtyard,  paved  with  smooth  stones  from  the  bed  of 
the  river,  another  small  temple  may  be  seen,  dedicated  to 
Byramji.  In  the  sides  of  the  rocks,  numerous  caves 
have  been  excavated  for  the  use  of  the  pilgrims.  In  the 
great  temple  itself,  little  is  to  be  seen, — the  supreme 
object  of  adoration  being  a  small  silver  image  of  the 
goddess  herself,  before  which  a  few  oil  lamps  are  con- 
stantly kept  burning. 

This  place,  though  superlatively  sacred,  is,  from  its 
inaccessibility,  visited  by  few  pilgrims.  There  are  those, 
however,  who  have  vowed  to  make  a  pilgrimage  from 
source  to  end  of  the  sacred  stream,  and  they  may  be 
seen  here  starting  on  their  weary  round.  Others  are 
visiting  this  sacred  shrine  from  the  plains  of  India,  bear- 


84  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

ing  away  with  them  the  precious  freight  of  the  waters  of 
the  sacred  stream.  Fatigue  and  cold  and  poverty  sadly 
strip  the  ranks  of  the  infatuated  devotees,  and  many  sink 
to  rise  no  more.  Yet  the  shout  rings  jubilantly  from 
those  who  survive,  "Ganga  Mai  ki  jai!"  as,  shouldering 
their  burdens,  they  trudge  down  the  mountains,  weary  and 
footsore,  yet  exultant  that  an  important  duty  has  been 
fulfilled  ! 

But  what  or  who  is  the  Ganga,  and  why  is  she  so  ferv- 
ently adored  ? 

The  goddess  Ganga,  we  are  told,  is  another  daughter 
of  the  mountain-god  Himavat,  and  therefore  the  sister  of 
Parvati,  the  spouse  of  Shiva.  In  heaven,  where  she 
cleanses  away  the  sins  of  the  gods,  she  is  known  as 
Mundakinee.  Her  descent  to  earth  was  in  this  wise:  A 
certain  king  of  Ayodhya,  (Oudh)  Sagara,  having  no 
children,  entered  upon  a  long  course  of  austere  devotions, 
as  a  reward  for  which  the  gods  promised  him  sixty 
thousand  sons  from  one  of  his  wives,  and  one  son  from 
the  other.  After  some  time  his  queen  presented  him 
with  a  pumpkin,  which  the  king,  in  anger,  dashed  to  the 
ground,  when  out  sprang  the  promised  progeny.  His 
other  queen  presented  him  with  one  son,  named  Angshu- 
man.  After  these  sons  were  grown  up,  King  Sagara 
resolved  once  more  to  perform  the  sacrifice  of  a  horse 
before  his  death,  and  committed  the  victim  to  the  care  of 
his  sixty  thousand  sons.     Now  the  person  who  performs 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  85 

this  sacrifice  one  hundred  times  succeeds  to  the  throne  of 
heaven  ;  this  being  Sagara's  hundredth  sacrifice,  Indra, 
the  reigning  sovereign  of  heaven,  being  alarmed  at  the 
thought  of  losing  his  throne,  carried  off  the  horse  into 
the  lower  regions,  and  fastened  it  near  to  Kapila,  a 
devout  sage.  Sagara  commanded  his  sons  to  go  in 
search  of  the  chosen  sacrifice.  They,  failing  to  find  it 
on  the  earth,  dug  down  to  Patala,  where  they  found  the 
horse  standing  by  the  side  of  Kapila,  who  was  absorbed 
in  his  devotions.  They,  supposing  him  to  be  the  thief, 
rated  him  soundly,  when  the  sage,  losing  his  moral  equi- 
poise, in  anger,  reduced  them  all  to  ashes. 

The  king  sent  his  son  Angshuman  to  seek  for  his  lost 
brothers.  He  found  their  ashes,  and  the  horse  feeding 
near  them.  Unable  to  find  water  to  pour  upon  their 
ashes  so  that  they  might  ascend  to  heaven,  Kapila 
directed  him  now  to  take  the  horse  and  complete  his 
father's  sacrifice,  assuring  him  that  his  (Angshuman's) 
grandson  should  in  due  course  obtain  for  their  ashes  the 
heavenly  Ganga.  Sagara  reigned  thirty  thousand  years  ; 
Angshuman,  thirty -two  thousand;  his  son  Dilipa,  thirty 
thousand;  all  these  continued  in  the  practice  of  the  most 
rigorous  austerities  for  the  promised  boon,  but  without 
success. 

Bhagiratha,  Dilipa'a  son,  earnestly  sought  the  same 
boon,  and  after  one  thousand  years,  Bramha  signified  his 
pleasure  by  commanding  him  to  ask  a  boon.     Bhagiratha 


S6  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

begged  that  he  might  receive  the  celestial  Ganga,  that 
the  ashes  of  his  relatives,  being  wetted  by  her  waters, 
they  might  ascend  to  heaven.  The  prayer  was  granted  ; 
the  mighty  goddess  descended  in  an  overwhelming  flood, 
which — to  prevent  the  earth  being  wholly  washed  away — 
was  caught  by  the  great  god  Shiva  in  the  coils  of  his  hair, 
whence  it  was  discharged  in  several  streams  upon  the 
earth.  Thence  it  descended  into  Patala,  washed  the 
ashes  of  Sagara's  sons,  who  being  delivered  from  the 
curse,  ascended  in  chariots  to  heaven. 

Thus  brought  down  to  earth,  she  continues  to  stay,  to 
wash  away  the  sins  of  her  worshipers,  and  to  procure 
them  admission  into  heaven.  Her  waters  have  the  most 
wondrous  efficacy.  The  Ganga  Vakya  Vali  thus 
describes  her  sanctity  and  power :  "  By  bathing  in 
Ganga,  accompanied  with  prayer,  a  person  will  remove 
at  once  the  sins  of  thousands  of  births.  If  a  person  who 
has  been  guilty  of  killing  cows,  bramhans,*  his  guru,t  etc. 
(the  most  heinous  sins  in  the  Hindu's  estimation),  touch 
the  waters  of  Ganga,  desiring  in  his  mind  the  remission 
of  these  sins,  they  will  be  forgiven."  But,  more  wonder- 
ful 'still, — "  If  a  person,  according  to  the  regulations  of 
the  Shastra,  be  going  to  bathe  in  the  Ganga,  and  die  on 
the  road,  he  shall  obtain  the  same  benefits  as  though  he 
had  actually  bathed."  Nay,  further,  "  at  the  time  of 
death,  if  a  person  thijik  upon   Ganga,  he  will   obtain  a 

*  The  sacred  priestly  caste.  |  A  religious  teacher. 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  8/ 

place  in  the  heaven  of  Shiva;"  but  still  further, — "He 
who  tliinks  upon  Ganga,  though  he  may  be  eight  hundred 
miles  distant  from  the  river  at  the  time,  is  delivered  from 
all  sin,  and  is  entitled  to  heaven."  * 

With  such  credentials  it  is  no  wonder  that  this  god- 
dess should  be  so  intensely  reverenced.  Journeys  of  five 
or  six  months  are  undertaken  by  pilgrims  to  bathe  in  its 
sacred  waters,  to  perform  the  rites  for  deceased  relatives, 
or  to  carry  its  water  to  their  homes  for  religious  and 
medicinal  purposes.  The  water  of  this  river  is  used  in 
English  courts  of  justice  to  swear  witnesses  upon, 
although  sometimes  a  respectable  Hindu  will  refuse  to 
take  oath  on  this  water  for  its  very  sacredness.  The 
utmost  anxiety  is  cherished,  and  pains  employed  to  die 
by  the  banks  of  the  Ganga,  and  the  vilest  opprobrium  is 
cast  upon  those  who  choose  to  die  in  their  homes. 
Should  a  person  die  at  a  distance  from  the  sacred  river, 
his  relations  procure  a  bone  at  the  time  of  burning  the 
body,  and  at  some  future  time  commit  the  bone  to  the 
Ganga,  in  the  hope  of  securing  his  salvation.  This 
custom  is  endorsed  by  the  following  sacred  story : 
A  bramhan,  guilty  of  the  greatest  crimes,  was  devoured 
by  wild  beasts ;  his  bones  only  remained.  A  crow 
took  up  one  of  these  bones,  and,  carrying  it  over 
Ganga,  accidentally  let  it  drop  in  the  sacred  waters.  As 
soon    as  the  bone  touched   Ganga,  the  bramhan   sprang 

*  Ward's  Views  of  the  Hindus,  p.  i66.     N'ote. 


88  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

to  life,  and  was  ascending  to  heaven,  when  the  messenger 
of  Yama,  the  judge  of  the  dead,  seized  him  as  a  great 
sinner.  Vishnu  decided,  however,  that  as  his  bone  had 
touched  Ganga,  his  sins  were  all  washed  away,  and  to 
heaven  he  went  accordingly. 

This  wondrous  efficacy  of  the  Ganga,  indeed,  provoked 
a  complaint  from  Yama,  the  punisher  of  the  wicked.  He 
appealed  to  the  gods  that  his  work  was  well-nigh  ended, 
since  the  most  sinful  persons,  through  her  cleansing, 
ascended  to  heaven,  and  his  officers  were  therefore  ready 
to  give  up  their  places  in  disgust.  Indra,  the  god  of 
heaven,  advised  him,  however,  not  to  place  his  messengers 
in  any  situation  where  the  wind,  passing  over  Ganga, 
blew,  since  all  persons  touched  even  by  the  Avind  of  this 
sacred  river,  had  all  their  sins  removed  and  would  go  to 
heaven.* 

Descending  the  sacred  channel,  we  leave  behind  the 
mountains  with  their  precipitous  torrents  and  foaming 
cascades,  and  arrive  at  the  place  where  the  Ganga  enters 
upon  the  great  plain  of  Hindustan,  at  an  elevation  of 
only  1 ,024  feet  above  the  sea.  This  place  is  called  Ganga- 
dwara  (the  door  of  Ganga),  or  more  commonly  Haridwar 
(the  door  of  Hari  or  Vishnu).  This  spot  is  celebrated 
as  the  scene  of  the  great  sacrifice  offered  by  Daksha,  one 
of  the  seven  progenitors  of  mankind,  born  from  the 
thumb  of  Bramha.     Daksha's  daughter,  Sati,  was  married 

*  Ward's  View,  p.    48. 


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PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  89 

to  the  mighty  god  Shiva,  but  Daksha,  being  ofTendcd  with 
his  son-in-law,  omitted  to  invite  him  and  his  wife  to  the 
sacrifice.  Sati,  however,  insisted  upon  going ;  on  her 
arrival,  the  irascible  old  patriarch  poured  such  a  torrent 
of  abuse  upon  his  son-in-law,  Shiva,  that  she,  utterly 
overcome,  threw  herself  into  the  flames  of  the  sacrifice 
and  perished.  Upon  this,  Shiva,  exasperated,  tore  off  a 
lock  of  his  hair  and  cast  it  with  violence  to  the  ground. 
Up  sprang  therefrom  a  mighty  giant,  of  the  name  of 
Virabhadra,  with  a  thousand  hands,  whom  Shiva  sent  to 
destroy  the  sacrifice.  A  tremendous  rout  ensued  ;  the 
furious  giant  laid  about  him  right  and  left,  pummelling 
the  gods,  maiming  one,  cutting  off,  the  nose  of  another, 
knocking  in  the  teeth  of  a  third,  trampling  others  under 
foot,  and  worst  of  all,  cutting  Daksha's  head  off  The 
gods  complained  to  Brahma  of  this  rough  treatment, 
whereupon  he  hastened  to  Shiva  to  intercede  for  Daksha. 
Shiva  then  went  personally  to  the  scene  of  disorder,  and 
resuscitated  Daksha,  but  as  his  head  could  not  be  found, 
a  goat's  head  was  clapped  on  instead.  This  sacrifice  of 
Daksha,  and  the  subsequent  contest,  are  perpetuated  in 
Hindu  sculpture,  and  make  conspicuous  figures  both 
at  Elephanta  and  EUora.* 

Haridwar  is  a  shrine  of  peculiar  sanctity,  and  is 
throughout  th'^  year  visited  by  throngs  of  pilgrims.  The 
town  itself  is  inconsiderable,  but  at  the  time  of  the  vernal 

*  Garrett's  Classical  Dictionaiy  of  India,  p.  147. 


go  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

equinox,  a  religious  fair,  the  largest  in  India,  is  here 
held.  Pilgrims  and  dealers  in  all  kinds  of  merchandise 
assemble  from  Cabul,  Cashmere,  Nepal,  the  Panjab,  and 
even  from  Tartary.  It  is  estimated  that  no  less  than 
two  millions  of  human  beings  congregate  at  this  spot 
annually;  while  every  twelfth  year,  a  still  more  celebrated 
Mela  is  held,  at  which  the  concourse  is  proportionally 
larger.  While  multitudes  of  pilgrims  gather  for  religious 
purposes,  thousands  come  for  merchandise  only.  The 
imports  are  in  horses,  cattle  and  camels,  Persian  dried 
fruits,  shawls,  cloths,  drugs,  etc.;  the  returns  are  made 
in  cotton,  piece-goods,  indigo,  sugar,  spices  and  other 
tropical  productions.  Thus  religion,  social  intercourse 
and  sharp-driving  commerce  pursue  their  occupations 
together  ;  and — what  wonder  if  they  encroach  one  upon 
the  other,  so  that  while  trade  is  glossed  over  with  super- 
stition, devotion  is  secularized,  and  both  are  drenched 
with  social  immorality  and  vice. 

But  come,  let  us  walk  through  the  mela,  and  see 
what  engages  this  mighty  throng.  The  chief  ingredients 
are  crowd,  dust,  and  noise.  You  can  scarcely  elbow  your 
way  along  for  the  crowd,  see  before  you  for  the  dust,  or 
hear  articulate  sounds  for  the  noise.  Still  we  persevere,  and 
pushing  right  and  left,  we  discern  the  booths  or  huts  of  the 
pilgrims.  Rough  and  narrow  structures  of  grass  afford 
scant  but  welcome  shelter  to  the  crowd.  There  are  tents, 
however,  for  the  better  class,  while  not  a  few  gorgeously 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 


91 


colored  pavilions  are  reserved  for  the  wealthy,  among 
whom  are  rich  Thakurs*  and  titled  Rajas.f  Thousands 
of  the  poorest,  however,  have  no  shelter  at  all ;  they  lie 
stretched  upon  the  ground,  huddled  together  in  gangs 
and  groups,  with  the  sun  to  warm  them  by  day  and  the 
stars  to  light  them  by  night.  The  streets  are  lined  with 
gay  and  sparkling  shops,  extemporized  for  the  occasion 
with  canvas  awnings,  in  which  every  description  of  goods 
are  exposed  for  sale.  Cloths,  vessels  of  copper  and 
brass,  grain  products,  brocades,  tinsels  and  nick-nacks  of 
a  thousand  kinds  are  arranged  in  tempting  array.  Each 
shop  is  literally  besieged,  seller  and  customer  vieing  one 
with  the  other  as  to  who  shall  drive  the  sharpest  bargain, 
while  scores  of  loungers  look  on  with  intense  interest, 
chattering,  laughing,  scolding,  vociferating  in  the  liveliest 
manner.  Here  is  a  Hahvdi,  with  a  tempting  array  of  curi- 
ously formed  sweetmeats  on  brass  platters,  and  a  smoking 
oven  at  which  a  half-dozen  of  semi-nude  assistants,  with 
dirty  and  greasy  persons, are  busy  turning  out  fried  hand- 
cakes,  which  are  no  sooner  served  out  than  caught  up  by 
hungry  customers.  There  is  a  large  booth  or  shed  in 
which,  upon  an  elevated  stand  or  dais,  sit  a  number  of 
Brahmans,  one  of  whom  is  vociferously  reciting  some 
portion  of  the  Ramayana  to  hundreds  of  listeners  squat- 
ted before  him,  who  testify  their  approv^al  by  nod  and 
shake  and  loud  acclaim,  while  others  toss  over  copper 

*  Land  holders.  |  Native  princes. 


92  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

and  silver  coin,  or  grain  or  fruit  to  the  stout-lunged  clerg}', 
until  the  carpet  before  them  is  covered  with  the  spoil.  In 
another  tent,  a  band  ofsingers,  with  saringi'^^  and  dJiolak,^ 
are  entertaining  another  crowd,  and  ekcing  out  a  scant 
subsistence.  On  the  outskirts  are  sheds  for  horses,  cattle, 
camels  and  even  elephants,  which  are  here  traded  away 
for  specie  or  a  fair  equivalent  of  other  goods. 

But,  step  aside  for  a  moment,  and  let  this  gaudy  and 
vociferous  pageant  pass  by.  You  hear  the  most  discord- 
ant notes  on  horn  and  cracked  trombone,  and,  utterly 
bewildered,  step  in  the  first  booth  or  shop  to  see  what  is 
passing.  Here  is  an  outrider  on  a  camel,  beating  a  pair 
of  drums  with  might  and  main  ;  then  another  camel 
bearing  an  important-looking  functionary,  busy  scattering 
cozvriesX  and  coin  to  the  surrounding  throng  ;  then  some 
tinselled  rag-tag  and  bob-tail  on  gaunt  and  bony  horses ; 
then  the  hero  of  the  occasion,  a  lordly  Raja  perchance, 
richly  attired  and  riding  a  heavy  horse  which  goes  wad- 
dling along,  evidently  proud  of  its  burden.  The  proces- 
sion closes  with  some  more  rag-tag  and  bob-tail ;  and 
then — all  has  swept  past,  but  the  dust  and  the  clamorous 
beggars.  These  last  push  and  jostle,  and  cry  and  clamor 
over  the  spoils  received  or  missed, — pronouncing  the 
Raja  a  prince  of  generosity  or  a  skin-flint,  according  to 
the  gain  made,  in  language  more  forcible  than  elegant. 
Indeed,  look  where  you  will,  these  clamorous  beggars 

*  Fiddle.  t  Small  drum.  %  Shells. 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  93 

abound,  not  only  the  maimed  and  lame,  the  blind  and 
halt,  but  vast  throngs  of  men  and  women  and  wholly 
naked  children,  who  dog  your  steps,  oppose  your  advance, 
tread  on  your  heels,  begging,  crying,  clamoring  all  the 
while,  until  dazed  and  deafened,  you  are  content  to  oeat 
a  retreat  from  the  busy  thoroughfare,  and  turn  aside  to 
the  more  retired  quarter  where  the  rehgious  devotees  or 
fakirs  ply  their  trade  and  practice  their  austerities. 

What  a  sight !  Here  is  a  group  of  Sujiyasis,  with 
cow-dung  ash  rubbed  over  their  naked  bodies,  a  narrow 
cloth  round  their  loins,  with  great  coils  of  artificial  hair 
matted  above  their  heads,  clotted  with  dirt,  sitting 
between  blazing  fires.  Here  is  the  KJiala7ita-yogi  with 
artificial  snakes  fastened  round  his  forehead,  strings  of 
human  bones  round  his  neck,  covered  over  with  a  tiger 
skin  and  face  smeared  with  ashes.  There  sits  a  Mouni, 
fulfilling  his  vow  of  perpetual  silence,  almost  naked, 
refusing  all  efforts  to  engage  him  in  converse;  and  further 
on  a  ParaiJiliangsa,  perfectly  nude,  with  hair  and  beard 
and  nails  grown  like  those  of  a  wild  animal,  seemingly 
regardless  of  everything  around.  Yonder,  again,  is  the 
Urdit-VaJin,  who,  to  fulfil  a  vow  to  Vishnu,  has  held  up 
his  right  arm  so  long  t4iat  it  has  become  stiff",  rigid  and 
immovable.  There  is  another  lying  upon  abed  of  spikes, 
another  standing  on  his  head,  and  yet  a  third  buried 
under  ground  so  completely  that  but  for  a  minute  open- 
ing in  the  earth,  over  which  the   dust   gently  swells  and 


94  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

falls,  you  would  suspect  no  living  person  below.  But, 
what  is  more  disgusting  than  all,  here  is  the  Aghor 
pantJii,  almost  naked,  carrying  in  the  left  hand  a  human 
skull,  containing  urine  and  ordure,  and  a  pan  of  burning 
coals  in  his  right.  If  the  alms,  which  he  claims  as  a 
right,  are  not  given  at  once,  he  will  threaten  to  eat  his 
foul  meal  there  and  then  before  the  people. 

Such  are  the  religious  devotees  or  fakirs.  Each  has 
his  disciples  and  followers,  and  round  each  throngs  of 
admiring  pilgrims  gather,  while  not  a  few  are  positively 
worshiped  as  scarcely  inferior  to  the  gods  themselves. 

Hastening  away  from  this  filthy  quarter,  and  passing 
rows  of  low  booths  or  huts  in  which  the  still  more  hide- 
ous gods  are  exhibited,  we  come  upon  the  sacred  Ganga, 
where  multitudes  are  bathing  away  their  sins.  The  crowd 
is  dreadful.  At  a  particular  junction  of  the  heavenly 
bodies,  the  auspicious  hour  arrives,  and  the  rush  is 
simply  crushing.  At  such  times,  as  many  as  twenty 
thousand  Sunyasis  (the  followers  of  Shiva)  have  been 
known  to  meet  an  equal  number  of  Vairagis  (disciples 
of  Vishnu),  and  fight  to  determine,  who  shall  descend  and 
bathe  in  the  Ganga  first.  The  Sunyasis  say,  "  Ganga 
descended  from  the  bunch  of  hair  on  the  head  of  our 
god  Shiva,  therefore,  we  must  bathe  first."  The  Vairagis 
reply,  "  Ganga  descended  from  the  foot  of  our  god 
Vishnu,  therefore,  the  right  to  bathe  first  is  ours."  * 

*  Ward's  View,  p.  290.     Note. 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  95 

The  common  people  join  in  the  melee,  and  it  is  not 
uncommon  for  numbers  to  be  trampled  under  foot  or 
drowned  in  the  scuffle  and  rush.  Meanwhile,  the  god- 
dess smiles  complacently  and  flows  on,  bearing  away  not 
only  the  sins,  but  in  many  cases  the  lifeless  bodies  of  its 
devotees.  What  matters  it,  however,  for  does  she  not 
give  a  sure  inheritance  in  heaven  to  each  one  swept 
beneath  her  flood  ? 

From  Haridwar,  the  Ganga  flows  on  in  a  south- 
easterly course,  with  a  smooth  navigable  channel,  diffusing 
abundance  on  all  sides  by  its  waters,  its  products  and  the 
facilities  it  affords  for  internal  transit.  Receiving  the 
Ramganga,  reinforced  by  the  Kosila,  she  washes  the  feet 
of  Kanouj,  the  former  splendid  capital  of  the  principal 
kingdom  along  the  Ganga,  comprising  the  modern 
provinces  of  Delhi,  Agra,  and  Oudh.  Now  it  is  a 
small  town,  with  a  single  street,  but  the  traveler  for  six 
miles  wanders  over  a  tract  covered  with  scattered  ruins. 
The  Ramayana  contains  an  extraordinary  legend  of  its 
foundation.  The  Rnja  Kusanabha  had  a  hundred  beau- 
tiful daughters  to  whom  Vayu,  the  god  of  the  wind, 
made  some  amorous  proposals,  which  they  rejected.  Vayu 
then,  spitefully,  rendered  them  hunchbacked,  hence  the 
city  in  which  they  lived  was  called  Kanyakubja,  the 
hunchbacked.  We  are  glad  to  learn  that  the  damsels 
were  afterwards  cured,  and  happily  married,  all  of  them, 
tea  young  Raja  Brahmadatta.     The  most  perfect  vestige 


q6  practical    HINDUISM. 

of  the  ancient  Hindu  city  is  a  portion  of  a  small  and  rude 
pagoda,  its  interior  adorned  with  figures  of  Lakshmi 
and  Rama,  surrounded  by  the  Hindu  pantheon  in  minia- 
ture.* Kanouj  was  the  stronghold  of  Brahmanism 
when  the  peninsula  was  submerged  by  the  Buddhist  revo- 
lution, and  to  this  day,  though  obscure,  is  the  cradle  of 
every  form  of  heathen  superstition. 

On,  on,  still  upon  its  swift  and  silent  course,  the  Ganga 
glides  through  a  pleasant  and  populous  country,  abound- 
ing in  rich  pasture  lands  and  fertile  meadows,  bringing 
us  to  the  commercially  important  city  of  Cawnpore,  the 
population  being  almost  entirely  Hindu.  The  mighty 
goddess  has  throngs  of  worshippers  and  votaries.  For 
the  convenience  of  her  devotees,  bathing  ghats  have  been 
constructed  at  much  expense,  and  towards  this  spot  a 
living  stream  of  human  beings  may  be  seen  daily  in  full 
flow,  while  on  fair  and  special  bathing  days  the  crowd  is 
simply  overwhelming.  Passing  down  with  this  throng, 
any  morning,  we  arrive  at  the  bathing  ghat,  and  watch 
the  devout  worshippers.  Crowds  of  persons  may  be 
seen  plunging  into  the  stream,  and  without  reserve  or 
ceremony  performing  their  devotions — that  is,  bathing  in 
the  sacred  waters.  **  Men  and  women  all  bathe  at  the 
same  places  in  promiscuous  crowds,  only  that  women 
pay  so  much  regard  to  decency  as  that  each  one  of  them 
keeps  at  the  distance  of  a  few  yards  from  men.     Women 

"^  McCulloch's  Geographical  Dictionaiy. 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  97 

of  the  higher  and  wealthier  classes,  however,  usually 
screen  themselves  from  public  view  by  bathing  behind 
walls  and  rooms  of  masonry  or  mats  built  on  the  banks 
of  rivers."  *  The  men  are  all  but  nude,  with  scarcely 
the  pretence  of  a  covering ;  the  women  have  a  coarse 
cloth  cast  around  them  in  bathing. 

But  let  us  examine  these  worshippers  a  little  more 
attentively.  Here  is  the  orthodox  and  zealous  worship- 
per; mark  him,  as,  gathering  some  flowers  together,  he 
goes  to  the  river  side.  There  he  picks  out  some  clean 
clay,  leaves  some  on  the  shore,  and  takes  a  morsel  with 
him.  Entering  the  water,  he  immerses  himself  once,  and 
then  rubs  himself  with  the  clay,  repeating  the  prayer, 
"  O,  Earth,  thou  bearest  the  weight  of  the  sins  of  all ; 
take  my  sins  upon  thee,  and  grant  me  deliverance."  He 
then  invokes  the  joint  efficacy  of  all  the  river  goddesses, — 
the  Yamuna,  Godavery,  Saraswati,  Nurmada,  Sindhu  and 
Kavery, — and  again  immerses  himself,  repeating  :  **  On 
such  a  day  of  the  month,  on  such  a  day  of  the  moon,  I, 
(such  a  one)  bathe  in  the  southwards-flowing  Ganga." 
He  then  prays  somewhat  as  follows  :  "  O,  god,  I  am  the 
greatest  sinner  in  the  world,  but  thou,  among  the  gods, 
art  the  greatest  saviour ;  I  leave  my  cause  in  thy  hands." 
He  then  prays  for  the  final  happiness  of  ten  millions  of 
his  family.  Another  immersion,  while  he  utters  the 
invocation,  '*  let  my  guardian  deity  be  propitious;  "  then 

*  Ishari  Das'  Domestic  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Hindus. 


98  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

he  leaves  the  water,  and  as  he  ascends  the  bank,  wiping 
his  hair,  he  thus  praises  the  goddess,  "  O,  Ganga,  thou 
art  the  door  of  heaven,  thou  art  the  watery  image  of 
rehgion,  thou  art  the  garland  round  the  head  of  Shiva ; 
the  owl  that  lodges  in  the  hollow  of  a  tree  on  thy  banks 
is  exalted  beyond  measure,  while  the  emperor,  whose 
palace  is  far  from  thee,  though  he  may  possess  a  million 
of  stately  elephants,  is  nothing."  Sitting  down  on  the 
bank  he  repeats  certain  prayers  to  the  sun ;  then  he 
pours  out  drink  offerings  to  the  gods,  to  the  seven  pro- 
genitors of  mankind,  and  to  his  own  forefathers ;  next  he 
forms,  with  the  clay  he  had  reserved,  an  image  of  the 
ling  (a  phallic  representation  of  Shiv^a),  and  worships  it ; 
then,  after  sundry  other  invocations  and  reiterations,  he 
returns  home,  if  not  with  a  peaceful  conscience,  at  least 
with  the  satisfaction  of  having  done  his  duty.* 

This  ostentation  and  prolixity  of  devotion  is,  however, 
limited  to  but  few.  The  vast  throngs  of  men  and  women 
immerse  themselves,  repeating  the  name  of  some  god ; 
then  walk  to  a  temple  adjacent,  or  to  some  shrine  close 
at  hand,  bow  to  the  idol,  make  an  offering  of  something, 
offer  a  short  ejaculatory  prayer,  and  retire  to  their  busi- 
ness or  their  homes.  This  is  the  sum  total  of  the 
religious  worship  of  the  multitude. 

Passing  these  bathing  ghats,  the  Ganga  glides  along, 
dimpled  with  ripples,  past  the  Suttee  Chowra  Ghat,  famous 

*  Ward's  View,  p.  Uv, 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  99 

in  the  annals  of  the  Indian  mutiny  of  1857.  What  a 
calm  scene!  The  rugged,  almost  precipitous  banks,  the 
sandy  beach,  the  old  temple  with  the  worn  steps  leading 
down  to  the  water,  the  great  pipal  tree  growing  out  of, 
and  overshadowing  the  temple.  How  calm ;  yet  that 
beach,  that  river-side,  have  been  ihe  scene  of  one  of  the 
most  harrowing  and  thrilling  tragedies  in  the  history  of 
this  sorrowing  world.  Look  across  the  beach,  in  rear 
of  the  temple,  and  you  see  a  winding,  sandy  pathwa>' 
leading  down  from  the  city  to  the  ghat.  Down  that 
winding  path,  on  the  27th  June,  1857,  came  down  a  shat- 
tered band  of  heroic  defenders,  with  a  large  company  of 
helpless  women  and  children.  After  a  resistance  of 
twenty  days,  in  the  hottest  season  of  the  year,  during 
which  a  mere  handful  of  Europeans  had  kept  at  bay 
thousands  of  blood-thirsty  foes,  defended  simply  by  a 
low  mud  wall  barely  four  feet  high,  mounting  eight  small 
guns,  two  of  which  only  were  serviceable  at  the  end  of 
the  siege,  the  brave  garrison  capitulated  upon  condition 
that  they  should  be  conveyed  by  river  in  safety  to  Alla- 
habad. Weary,  foot-sore  and  exhausted,  many  sorely 
wounded,  the  garrison  to  the  number  of  four  hundred 
and  fifty  came  down  to  the  river-side,  where  twenty-four 
boats  lay  awaiting  their  arrival.  Of  course,  the  whole 
horde  of  savages  was  upon  them  using  the  vilest  and 
most  abusive  epithets,  and  scarce  restrained  from  positive 
violence ;  yet  the  hope  of  soon  speeding  away  from  the 


lOO  ^  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

disastrous  and  deadly  scene  buoyed  them  up,  and  inspired 
courage  and  patience. 

And  now  the  ghat  is  reached,  and  the  garrison  make 
speed  to  embark.  This  is  a  work  of  no  Httie  difficulty, 
considering  the  number  of  sick  and  wounded ;  but  at 
last,  all  is  arranged.  The  women  and  children  are  placed 
under  the  rough  thatched  roofs  which  partly  shade  the 
boats  from  the  scorching  sun  ;  the  gentlemen,  laying 
down  their  muskets,  pull  off  their  coats  in  order  to  work 
easier  at  the  boats ;  all  is  now  ready  to  push  off  Hark ! 
was  that  the  flapping  of  the  wings  of  the  death-angel 
above?  A  bugle  sounds,  and  with  fiendish  whoops  and 
cries,  the  malignant  swarms  of  arch  fiends  rush  forward 
to  their  deed  of  dark  and  deadly  treacher}^  At  the  same 
time,  three  guns,  that  had  been  hidden  in  the  broken 
ground  on  the  beach,  are  run  out,  and  begin  pouring 
their  storm  of  grape  and  shot.  In  vain,  the  inveigled 
garrison  try  to  push  off  the  boats ;  they  are  fast  stranded 
in  the  sand.  In  vain  do  they  leap  into  the  water :  fire, 
and  shot  and  sword  consume  them  there.  In  vain  do 
they  attempt  to  resist;  the  most  heroic  efforts  can  only 
recoil  upon  themselves.  A  short  half  hour  has  passed, 
and  the  work  of  death  is  all  but  completed.  The  sur- 
vivors, chiefly  women  and  children,  some  of  them  badly 
wounded,  are  drawn  to  the  shore.  The  grown  up  males 
are  instantly  butchered,  and  then  follows  a  scene  unsur- 
passed in  the  annals  of  fiendish  cruelty.     The  barbarous 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  lOl 

savages  forcibly  tear  away  the  infants  from  the  arms  of 
their  terror-stricken  and  helpless  mothers — the  girls  are 
restored,  but  the  males  are  cast  upon  the  ground  and 
trampled  upon.  Infuriated  and  demonized,  the  troopers 
actually  tear  their  tender  bodies  in  two,  and  cast  the 
writhing  limbs  into  the  river,  amidst  the  agonizing  shrieks 
of  their  mothers.  The  survivors,  to  the  number  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty,  all  females,  are  driven  off  to  await 
the  awful  massacre  of  i6th  July.* 

Done, — the  awful  deed  is  done  !  Their  spirits  have 
ascended  from  the  river  unto  Him  who  is  the  judge  of 
quick  and  the  dead ;  their  blood  has  dyed  its  sands 
red ;  while  their  bodies  lie  beneath  the  waters  of  the 
friendly  Ganga,  until  the  trump  of  the  resurrection  morn. 

We  now  arrive  at  the  memorable  junction  of  the 
Ganga  and  Yamuna  at  Prayag  or  Allahabad.  The  latter 
stream,  rising  at  an  elevation  of  eleven  thousand  feet 
above  the  sea,  amid  the  snows  of  the  Himalayas,  after  a 
course  of  seven  hundred  and  eighty  miles,  through  which 
it  receives  many  important  tributaries,  and  washes  the 
feet  of  the  important  cities  of  Delhi  and  Agra,  pours  her 
waters  into  the  Ganga,  and  thenceforward  flows  with  her, 
a  united  stream.  The  Yamuna  herself  is  a  sacred 
stream, — believed  to  be  the  daughter  of  the  sun,  and  the 
twin  sister  of  Yama,  the  judge  of  the  dead.f  The  point 
of  junction  of  the  Ganga  and  Yamuna  is  a  specially 
*  Shepherd's  Cawnpore  Massacre.  t  Oanett's  Classical  Dicty. 


102  PRACTICAL   HINDUISM. 

sacred  spot,  as  the  Hindus  believe  that  a  third,  though 
invisible  stream,  called  the  Saraswati,  here  joins  the 
united  rivers.  Hence  Prayag  is  visited  by  throngs  of 
anxious  pilgrims,  while  annually  a  mela,  called  the  Magh 
Mela,  is  held  at  the  junction  of  the  rivers.  Hundreds  of 
thousands  of  devotees  attend  from  the  remotest  end  of 
Hindustan.  Looking  down  from  the  bastions  of  the  fort 
overlooking  the  junction,  the  whole  sandy  beach  presents 
the  most  animated  appearance.  Booths  or  stalls  for  the 
usual  glittering  display  of  goods  extend  on  two  sides  of 
a  sandy  street  over  a  mile  in  length  ;  awnings  for  audi- 
ences attending  upon  the  reading  or  singing  of  the  Hindu 
scriptures ;  the  usual  complement  of  filthy  fakirs  and 
hideous  gods  make  up  the  chief  characteristic  features  of 
this  as  of  all  other  melas. 

But  there  are  some  distinctive  features  which  need 
attention.  Get  close  down  to  the  river's  side ;  you  notice 
a  large  railed  area  within  which  men  and  women,  squatted 
upon  the  ground,  are  being  clean-shorn  by  diligent  and 
hard-working  barbers.  What  are  those  huge  mounds, — 
nay,  hills  of  black  ?  The  shorn  locks  of  the  worshippers. 
Each  pilgrim  who  would  derive  the  full  benefit  of  this 
sacred  shrine  must  here  part  with  his  hair.  There  is  no 
distinction  of  age  or  sex,  and  these  huge  piles  of  black 
and  rusty  grey  stand  in  palpable  testimony  of  their  cere- 
monial devotion.  The  idea  formerly  was  that  each  hair 
removed  should  drop  into  the  Ganga,  a  million  year's 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  IO3 

residence  in  heaven  being  promised  for  each  hair  so 
dropped.  But  this  notion,  which  gave  the  hairy  Esaus 
so  great  an  advantage  over  the  smooth  Jacobs,  has  died 
out ;  and  a  profitable  trade  is  made  by  the  local  gov- 
ernment with  the  Parisian  hair  dressers  who  transform 
these  rough  and  sometimes  not  very  clean  locks  into 
those  charming  and  unnamed  adjuncts  of  a  ladies' 
toilette  which  so  sorely  puzzle  the  connoiseurs  of 
naturalness. 

Thus  shaven  and  shorn, — rid  of  the  blackness  of  his 
sins,  the  pilgrim  descends  into  the  stream,  assisted 
by  a  Brahman  priest  These  priests  abound  in  hundreds, 
each  one  being  distinguished  by  a  particular  flag ;  the 
bathing  place  is  thus  studded  by  numerous  distinctive 
and  gaily-colored  standards.  Together  they  walk  into 
the  stream,  which  is  shallow  in  parts,  and  then  the  pilgrim 
dips  and  bathes,  and  does  piija  in  the  usual  way.  The 
most  sacred  spot  is  the  point  of  junction  of  the  two 
streams,  which  is  plainly  discernible.  The  Yamuna  is 
clear  and  greenish ;  the  Ganga,  muddy  and  turbid,  and 
the  line  of  junction  is  thus  clearly  defined.  Multitudes 
venture  out  here,  both  men  and  women,  and  bury  them- 
selves below  the  holy  waters,  pouring  offerings  of  milk 
or  flowers  into  the  sacred  stream,  while  shouts  of  Ganga 
mdi  ki  jai  VQSoxxvid  across  the  waters  with  reverberating 
enthusiasm. 

Returning  from  the  bathing,  the  pilgrims  make  for  the 


104  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

shrine  of  a  famous  Yogi,  who  sits  upon  a  stone  on  the 
brow  of  the  embankment  outskirting  the  fort,  and  has 
been  sitting  there  for  fifty  past  years,  without  house  or 
shelter  of  any  kind.  Through  the  torrid  scorching  heat, 
•through  the  freezing-  cold  and  drenching  rain,  there  he 
has  sat,  until  his  head  is  white,  and  his  eyes  are  sightless, 
and  his  form  is  bent  with  age.  Through  the  fearful  days 
of  the  mutiny,  he  left  not  his  place,  but  calmly  braved 
the  cruelty  and  cupidity  of  the  blood-thirsty  hordes  who 
ransacked  the  city.  Though  worshipped  as  a  god,  he  is 
exceedingly  polite  and  gentle. 

"Why  do  you  sit  here.  Guru  ji?"  we  ask,  greatly 
interested .  • 

"  To  meditate  on  Him  who  is  above,"  he  replies. 

"  But  is  He  not  everywhere  present?  " 

"  True,"  he  replies  ;  "  but  we  need  eyes  to  see  him, 
ears  to  hear  his  voice.'' 

"  How  are  these  to  be  obtained  ?"  we  ask. 

''  By  shutting  our  eyes  and  ears  to  the  world." 

"Does  He  communicate  himself  to  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly  He  does ;  He  speaks  to  me  by  day  and  by 
night.  While  other  voices  are  falling  on  your  ears,  His 
voice  is  in  my  ear;  while  other  sights  fall  on  your  vision, 
He  reveals  Himself  to  me." 

"  What  is  your  ultimate  hope  and  wish.  Guru  ji  ?  " 

"  I  have  neither  wish  nor  hope  ;  I  am  satisfied  to  be 
absorbed  in  Him." 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  IO5 

"  But  have  you   no  interest  in   the   world,  no  ties  of 
affection  ?  " 

"  None ;  the  world  is  but  Maya  (a  delusion),  there  is 
no  reality  here." 

"  Do  you  never  feel  afraid  ?  "  we  ask. 

"  Afraid,  of  what?     Nothing  can  harm  me." 

"  But  do  you  not  feel  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather, 
or  need  of  rest?  " 

."  I  have  no  feeling,  but  in  contemplating  Him  who  is 
above." 

We  stand  wondering,  intensely  interested  and  saddened. 
While  throngs  of  worshippers  kiss  his  feet,  and  drop 
their  offerings,  which  are  picked  up  by  his  disciples,  we 
tell  him  of  One  who  said  :  "  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that 
are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." 
And  then  go  on  our  way  in  a  mental  dilemma  whether 
to  revere  or  despise  the  poor  old  man. 

The  anxiety  of  the  Hindu  to  die  by  the  side  of  the 
Ganga  has  already  been  referred  to,  and  here,  in  Prayag, 
many  are  brought  from  immense  distances  to  pass  their 
last  hours.  "  A  person  in  his  last  agonies  is  frequently 
dragged  from  his  bed  and  friends,  and  carried,  in  the 
coldest  or  the  hottest  weather,  to  the  river-side,  where  he 
lies,  if  a  poor  man,  without  a  covering  day  or  night  till 
he  expires.  With  the  pains  of  death  upon  him,  he  is 
placed  up  to  the  middle  in  the  water  and  drenched  with 
it.     Leaves   of  the   tulsi  plant  are  put  in  his  mouth,  and 


I06  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

his  relations  call  upon  him  to  repeat  the  names  of  Rama, 
Narain,  Hari,  Bramha  or  Ganga.  They  next  spread  the 
sediment  of  the  river  on  his  forehead  or  breast,  and  with 
the  finger  write  on  it  the  name  of  some  deity."  *  Thus 
exposed,  drenched  and  besoiled,  any  hope  of  survival  is 
mercilessly  cut  short,  and  numbers  of  lives  are  ruthlessly 
sacrificed  to  this  pitiable  superstition. 

Leaving  Prayag  with  its  imposing  fort,  containing  a 
memorable  underground  temple,  representing  the  entire 
Hindu  pantheon,  and  a  famous  tree  which  is  supposed  to 
bleed  at  its  pores  ;  with  its  historic  river  junction,  and 
its  celebrated  mela,  we  float  down  stream  upon  the  waters 
of  the  sacred  Ganga.  And  now  we  approach  that 
supremely  sacred  city  which  has  been  justly  designated 
at  once  the  Athens  and  the  Jerusalem  of  Hinduism, — 
the  Athens  of  scholarship  and  philosophy,  the  Jerusalem 
of  religious  interest  and  reverence. 

Benares  or  Kasi,  the  splendid,  (Varanasi,  Sa72sk?'it),  is 
the  capital  of  the  ancient  kingdom  of  that  name,  and  has 
a  population  of  about  two  hundred  thousand,  out  of 
which  at  least  twenty-five  thousand  are  Brahmans.  It  is 
situated  imposingly  on  the  banks  of  the  sacred  river, 
extending  about  four  miles  from  end  to  end.  The  view, 
as  you  approach  the  city,  is  exceedingly  fine.  Upon  the 
elevated  bank,  rises  a  pile  of  buildings  of  stone  and  brick 
of    singular    and    varied    picturesqueness.       Handsome 

*  Ward's  View,  p.  169. 


PRACTICAL   HINDUISM.  lO/ 

ghats,  or  landing  places,  of  stone,  come  down  to  the 
water's  edge,  crowned  with  muhitudes  of  temples.  Above 
the  dense  mass  of  houses,  stand  out  numerous  shining 
pinnacles  and  sculptured  tops  of  pyramidal  pagodas ; 
while  the  great  mosque  of  Aurangzebe,  with  its  gilded 
dome  glittering  in  the  sunbeam,  and  two  minarets  of 
towering  height,  form  a  grand  and  imposing  combination. 
Entering  the  city,  however,  all  the  squalor  and 
wretchedness  of  an  Eastern  capital  recur.  The  streets 
are. narrow,  the  houses  crowded,  some  of  them  huddled 
together  in  situations  of  the  dingiest  and  darkest  gloom. 
Temples,  fakirs'  houses  and  idol-shops  abound  every- 
where. Conspicuous  among  these  is  the  Golden  temple 
of  Bisheshwar.  It  has  a  central  hall  with  rooms  in  front 
and  rear,  surmounted  by  a  conical  dome  and  a  light 
pavilion,  both  covered  with  thin  plates  of  gold,  hence  its 
name.  The  god  Shiva  is  worshipped  here  by  ardent 
multitudes.  Farther  on,  you  come  to  the  monkey  temple, 
with  a  large  tank  enclosed,  where  swarms  of  monkeys  are 
reared,  caressed  and  reverenced,  if  not  positively  wor- 
shipped, as  kindred  to  the  famous  monkey-god  Hanu- 
man.  The  animals  seem  quite  alive  to  their  advantages, 
and  screeching,  chattering,  capering  with  the  most 
ungod-like  levity,  they  exact  their  tributes  from  the 
worshippers  with  all  the  cunning  and  rigor  of  their  kins- 
men, the  Brahmans. 

This    reverence  for   the   monkey   is   not   confined  to 

2* 


108  PRACTICAL   HINDUISM. 

Benares.  Hanuman  Is  worshipped  daily  with  Rama  and 
Sita  in  numerous  temples,  and  the  utmost  regard  and 
care  are  shown  to  his  chattering  fraternity.  Mr.  Ward 
describes  the  marriage  of  two  monkeys  by  the  Raja  of 
Naddea,  at  a  cost  of  100,000  Rs.  In  the  marriage  pro- 
cession were  seen  elephants,  camels,  horses  richly  capari- 
soned, palanqueens,  lamps  and  torches.  The  male 
monkey  was  fastened  in  a  fine  palanqueen,  having  a  crown 
upon  his  head,  with  men  standing  by  his  side  to  fan  him ; 
then  followed  singing  and  dancing  girls  in  the  carriages, 
every  kind  of  Hindu  music,  a  grand  display  of  fire- 
works, etc.  Dancing,  music,  singing,  and  every  degree 
of  low  mirth,  were  exhibited  at  the  bridegroom's  palace 
for  twelve  days  together.  At  the  time  of  the  marriage 
ceremony,  learned  Brahmans  were  employed  in  reading 
the  formulas  from  the  shastras. 

The  streets  of  Benares  are  infested  with  pampered, 
vicious  bulls,  who  roam  about  at  large,  and  prey  upon  the 
people.  The  cow  is  universally  reverenced  throughout 
Hinduism.  It  is  said  that  Bramha  created  the  bramhans 
and  the  cow  at  the  same  time,  the  bramhans  to  read  the 
formula,  the  cow  to  afford  milk,  wherewith  ghee'^  is  made 
for  the  burnt  offerings.  The  reverencing  of  the  cow  "  is 
in  fact  the  only  common  bond  of  union  for  all  castes.  It 
is  the  sacramental  symbol  of  Hinduism  in  which  sectaries 
of  all  shades  unite.     The  bullock-driver,  whose  clothes 

*  Clarified  butter. 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISxM.  IO9 

have  been  defiled  by  contact  with  a  sweeper,  will  rub  the 
polluted  part  on  the  nose  of  his  bullock,  and  thus  restore 
himself  to  purity.  The  Brahman  who  has  lost  caste  may 
be  restored  to  it  by  taking  the  sacred  pills  composed  of 
the  five  products  of  the  cow, — milk,  curd,  butter,  urine 
and  dung,"  *  All  unclean  places  are  purified  with  cow- 
dung  ;  indeed,  many  bramhans  do  not  go  out  of  the 
house  of  a  morning,  till  the  door-way  has  been  rubbed 
with  cow-dung.  The  crime  of  killing  the  cow  is  classed 
in  Manu's  Institutes  along  with  adultery,  to  be  expiated 
by  a  long  and  heavy  penance ;  but  it  is  certain  that  later 
superstition  has  made  this  an  offence  of  even  graver 
magnitude.  About  twenty  years  ago,  "  the  regent  of 
one  of  the  native  states  having  adjudged  a  man  guilty  of 
this  crime,  punished  him  by  having  him  tied  to  the  foot 
of  an  elephant  and  dragged  about  till  he  was  dead,  an 
act  for  which  he  was  deprived  of  the  regency  by  the 
British  Government,  but  for  which  he  had  the  sympathy 
of  all  good  Hindus."  f 

The  city  of  Benares  is  believed  by  the  Hindus  to  form 
no  part  of  the  terrestrial  globe,  but  to  rest  upon  the  point 
of  Shiva's  trident ;  hence,  they  say,  no  earthquake  ever 
affects  it.  The  number  of  temples  is  at  least  two  thou- 
sand, not  counting  innumerable  smaller  shrines.  Indeed, 
every  foot  of  ground  here  is  hallowed,  even  the  very  air 
is  holy.  Shiva,  or  Mahadeo,  is  the  guardian  deity  of  this 

*  Robson's  Hinduism,  p.  134.  f  Robson,  p.  139. 


no  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

Hindu  Jerusalem,  and  is  worshipped  chiefly  under  that 
most  debasing  representation  of  heathenism,  the  Ling; 
indeed,  one  of  these  vile  figures  is  exhibited  as  set  up  by 
Shiva  himself  The  stories  in  the  puranas  respecting 
the  origin  of  the  ling  worship  are  too  gross  and  offensive 
to  be  offered  to  a  respectable  audience.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  the  shocking  and  debasing  superstitions  of  Hinduism 
are  climaxed  in  the  selection  of  so  vile  a  representation 
of  one  of  their  chief  deities,  and  the  actual  zvorship  of 
this  foul  emblem  as  God! 

But  turning  away  from  this  city  of  hideous  idols  and 
filthy  images,  of  hungry  brahmans  and  insolent  mendi- 
cants, of  pampered  bulls  and  deified  monkeys,  we  repair 
to  the  side  of  the  sacred  Ganga,  and  look  around  us. 
What  are  these  low  pillars,  or  rather  mounds  of  masonry, 
whited  over,  which  dot  the  beach  ?  These  are  the  famous 
Sati  marks ;  each  mound  marks  the  spot  where  one  or 
more  widows  perished  on  the  funeral  pyre  of  their  hus- 
bands. Imagine  the  sad  scene  ;  here  is  a  sick  husband, 
whose  case  being  pronounced  hopeless,  he  is  directed  to 
the  river-side  to  die !  His  wife  declares  her  resolution  to  be 
burnt  with  him.  She  is  treated  with  respect,  even  rever- 
ence ;  and  as  soon  as  her  husband  has  expired,  she  takes 
her  seat  beside  the  corpse.  Her  feet  are  painted  red,  and 
she  is  attired  with  new  clothes,  while  a  drum-beat  summons 
the  village  or  towns-people  to  the  awful  ceremony.  A 
hole  is  dug  in  the  ground,  round  which  stakes  are  driven 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  HI 

into  the  earth,  and  thick  green  stakes  laid  across  to  form 
a  kind  of  bed,  and  upon  these  are  laid,  in  abundance,  dry 
faggots,  hemp,  ghee,  pitch,  etc.  The  officiating  brahman 
now  causes  the  widow  to  repeat  the  mantras,  in  which 
she  prays  that  as  long  as  fourteen  Indras  reign,  or  as 
many  years  as  there  are  hairs  on  her  head,  she  may  abide 
in  heaven  with  her  husband,  and  that  by  this  act  of  merit 
all  the  ancestors  of  her  father,  mother  and  husband  may 
ascend  to  heaven.  The  dead  body  is  now  anointed,  and, 
with  suitable  mantras,  is  laid  upon  the  pile.  The  widow 
walks  round  the  pile  seven  times,  then  ascending  it,  casts 
herself  by  the  side  of  the  corpse.  Ropes  are  drawn  over 
the  two  bodies,  and  a  few  faggots  placed  over  them.  The 
son  then,  averting  his  head,  puts  fire  to  the  face  of  his 
father  ;  the  pile  is  at  the  same  time  lighted  on  the  other 
side  and  is  soon  in  a  blaze.  The  women  raise  an  outcry, 
the  drums  beat,  the  flames  crackle,  and  soon  the  awful 
work  is  done.  The  ashes  are  swept  into  the  Ganga,  and 
the  sati  is  completed. 

Sometimes  the  husband  leaves  behind  him  several 
widows,  and  many  of  these  perish,  some  never  having 
lived  with  him  at  all.  Mr.  Ward  relates  that  thirty-seven 
females  were  burnt  alive  with  the  remains  of  a  brahman, 
who  had  more  than  a  hundred  wives.  At  the  first  kind- 
ling of  the  fire,  only  three  of  them  were  present,  but  the  fire 
was  kept  burning  three  days  !  Among  the  thirty-seven, 
some  were  forty  years  old,  some  as  young  as  sixteen ! 


I  1  2  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

In  general,  the  steadiness  of  mind  and  fortitude  of  the 
victims  are  remarkable,  but  there  are  cases  in  which  the 
resolution  falters,  and  there  is  a  desperate  desire  to  escape, 
but  this  is  all  but  hopeless !  A  brahman  having  died,  his 
wife,  at  a  late  hour,  went  to  be  burned  with  his  body ;  all 
the  necessary  ceremonies  were  gone  through,  the  victim 
was  fastened  to  the  pile,  and  the  fire  kindled.  The  night, 
however,  was  dark  and  rainy,  and  the  poor  woman 
scorched  and  frightened,  managed  to  disentangle  herself 
from  the  corpse,  crept  away  from  the  pile  and  managed 
to  hide  herself  among  some  brushwood.  She  was 
unhappily  discovered,  and  her  relations  dragged  her  forth, 
insisting  that  she  should  throw  herself  on  the  pile  again, 
or  drown  or  hang  herself  She  pleaded  for  her  life  at 
the  hands  of  her  own  son,  and  declared  that  she  could 
not  embrace  so  horrid  a  death,  but  in  vain.  Unable  to 
persuade  her  to  enter  the  flames,  they  quickly  tied  her 
hands  and  feet  and  cast  her  into  the  fire,  where  she  was 
instantly  consumed. 

Instances  are  on  record  of  children  eight  or  ten  years 
of  age  perishing  in  the  flames  w^ith  their  so-called  hus- 
bands. A  girl  eight  years  old  was  playing  with  other 
children  when  the  news  of  her  husband's  death  arrived. 
Having  just  before  been  severely  beaten  by  her  aunt,  and 
fearing  persistent  ill-treatment  from  her,  she  insisted  on 
being  burnt  with  the  dead  body  of  her  husband.  The 
necessary  preparations  were  made ;    she  was  laid  upon 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  II3 

the  pile,  but  before  it  could  be  fired,  the  poor  child  had 
expired,  no  doubt  through  sheer  fi-ight.  Another  girl  of 
the  same  age  was  compelled  to  hold  her  hand  for  some 
time  over  burning  coals,  so  that  she  might  not  shrink 
from  the  fire  afterwards. 

Our  hearts  thrill  at  such  a  recital,  but  these  scenes 
were  common  a  generation  back,  as  these  frequently 
recurring  monuments  testify.  Now  a  benignant  govern- 
ment and  a  humanizing  Christianity  have  driven  this 
barbarity  to  the  extreme  out-posts  of  heathenish  gloom ; 
yet,  here  the  crackling  of  the  sati  flames  and  the  cry 
of  the  victim  are  still  heard,  testifying  how  hard  a  hoary 
though  deadly  superstition  dies,  even  after  a  century's 
stout  cudgeling. 

Bidding  adieu  to  the  sacred  city,  we  float  down  the 
sacred  Ganga,  as  it  winds  through  the  fertile  plains  of  Lower 
Bengal,  swelled  by  the  Goomtee,  Gogra,  Sone,  Gunduck. 
Kosi  and  Mahananda,  and  washing  the  feet  of  the  large 
commercial  cities  of  Patna  and  Monghyr,  and  the  ancient 
Mahomedan  capitals  of  Dacca  and  Murshedabad. 
Silently  and  slowly,  meandering  through  plain  and 
meadow,  winding  through  rough  channels  and  rocky 
beds,  the  sacred  river  flows  on,  diffusing  life  and  fertility 
and  brightness.  Beneath  that  fair  smile,  however,  she 
hides  a  charnel  house  of  ghastliness  and  death.  Shock- 
ing and  cruel  as  is  the  custom  of  self-immolation,  what 
shall  we  say  to  the  still  more  barbarous  and  unnatural 

H 


114  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

superstition  of  a  mother  devoting  her  child  to  death  ? 
Yet  the  dark  womb  of  Ganga  holds  countless  infant  forms 
in  her  mysterious  repository  until  the  resurrection  morn. 
See  that  relentless  crowd  at  the  river-side,  with  wild 
whoops  and  shouts  to  the  beat  of  the  fierce  tom-tom ! 
See  the  unnatural  mother,  the  cruel  father,  with  the  hap- 
less child,  dressed  out  in  its  best,  as  though  for  a  gala 
day  !  Its  poor  life  has  been  vowed  away  to  the  Ganga, 
and  the  debt  must  be  discharged.  After  the  usual 
unmeaning  mummery,  the  child  is  put  out  in  the  stream 
by  the  parents  ;  then  encouraged  to  go  out  further  and 
further  into  the  depths  ;  watch  it  as  it  shrinks,  recoils, 
and  then  attempts  to  retreat;  and  then — then — you  shud- 
der with  a  horrible  shuddering,  scarcely  daring  to 
breathe  or  look,  as  you  see  one  in  the  crowd — was  it  the 
father — actually  pushing  the  child  out  until  it  falls  head- 
long into  the  stream,  with  a  shriek  scarce  deadened  by 
the  tom-tom  and  the  acclamations  of  the  crowd,  while 
the  waters  close  over  the  scene,  sealing  up  the  dark  record 
until  the  judgment  morn. 

Or,  see  that  woman  stealing  to  the  river-side,  with 
stealthy  tread,  with  her  babe  in  her  arms.  Fierce  alliga- 
tors gape  at  the  water's  edge,  ready  for  the  prey.  Do 
you  call  that  woman  mother?  Ask  her  the  reason 
of  her  cruel  and  unnatural  intention,  and  she  replies 
contemptuously,  "  'tis  only  a  girl ! "  Reaching  the 
river-side,  she  mercilessly  flings  out  the  baby  girl  into 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  II5 

the  Stream.  A  cry,  a  splash,  a  horrid  gulp,  and  all  is 
over! 

This  practice  of  sacrificing  female  children  was  at  one 
time  common  all  over  India,  especially  among  the  fierce 
Rajputs.  "  The  Hindus  ascribe  this  custom  to  a  pro- 
phecy delivered  by  a  Bramhan  to  Dwip  Sing,  a  Rajput 
king,  that  his  race  would  lose  the  sovereignty  through 
one  of  his  female  posterity.  Another  opinion  is,  that 
this  shocking  practice  has  arisen  out  of  the  law  of  mar- 
riage, which  obliges  the  bride's  father  to  pay  almost 
divine  honors  to  the  bridegroom ;  hence  persons  of  high 
caste,  unwilling  thus  to  humble  themselves  for  the  sake 
of  a  daughter,  destroy  the  infant."  *  Though  strictly 
interdicted  by  the  English  government,  under  the  sever- 
est penalties,  this  horrid  crime  is  still  practiced  in  secret 
coverts ;  and  all  the  vigilance  of  executive  law  is  defeated 
in  the  attempt  to  detect  the  perpetrator  of  the  foul  deed. 

"  About  two  hundred  miles  from  the  sea,  the  delta  of 
the  Ganga,  which  is  twice  as  large  as  that  of  the  Nile, 
begins  to  be  formed.  Of  its  two  principal  arms,  which 
form  the  outermost  of  the  whole  series,  the  east  is  the 
larger,  and  preserves  the  original  direction  of  the  main 
stream  together  with  the  name  of  Ganga;  but  the  west- 
ern arm,  or  Cossimbazar  branch,  called  afterwards  the 
Hooghly,  is  considered  by  natives  the  true  Bhagarathi, 
and  invested  with  the  greatest  sanctity.     The  whole  of  the 

*  Ward's  View,  p.  252. 


Il6  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

delta  between  the  two  principal  arms  is  a  vast  alluvial 
flat,  nearly  two  hundred  miles  in  breadth,  intersected  by 
numerous  rivers  interlacing  each  other  in  all  directions, 
and  which  enter  the  sea  by  from  twelve  to  twenty  mouths. 
The  region  round  the  mouths  of  the  Ganga  is  termed  the 
Sunderbands,  and  is  a  pestiferous  tract,  covered  with 
jungle,  and  swarming  with  tigers  and  other  beasts  of 
prey."  * 

In  these  jungles  may  be  found  dwelling,  in  the  most 
retired  localities,  fakirs  or  yogis,  absorbed  in  religious 
austerities.  There  are  two  classes  of  religious  mendi- 
cants among  the  Hindus;  the  begging  class  is,  of  course, 
the  most  numerous.  They  abound  in  the  streets,  they 
swarm  in  melas  and  fairs  ;  they  crowd  in  the  bazars, 
resorting  to  every  sort  of  expedient  and  device  to  extort 
money.  They  literally  prey  upon  the  people,  and  with 
inconceivable  impudence  and  audacity  exact  their  ill- 
deserved  tribute.  They  are  generally  as  vile  in  their 
practices  as  they  are  unclean  in  their  persons ;  and  while 
affecting  the  highest  saintliness,  are  too  often  begrimed 
with  the  foulest  crimes. 

But  there  is  another  class  of  yogis,  men  earnest  and 
sincere  and  devoted,  though  fatally  misguided.  These 
dwell  by  themselves  in  caves  and  secret  haunts,  by  river-  ' 
side,  and  in  jungle  wilds.  Some  practice  the  most 
severe  austerities:  others  dwell  alone,  absorbed  in  silent 
*  McCullough's  Geographical  Dictionary. 


PRACTICAL   HINDUISM.  ,  11/ 

and  unspeakable  meditation.  Here  there  is  no  desire  to 
be  seen  of  men,  no  cupidity  or  greed.  This  class  of  men 
shun  observation  ;  indeed,  earnestly  strive  to  become,  if 
they  do  not  actually  become,  dead  to  all  external  impres- 
sions and  associations.  Their  desire  and  hope  are,  if 
they  have  desire  and  hope  at  all,  that  being  dead  to  every- 
thing below,  and  being  engrossed  in  meditation  upon 
the  supreme,  they  will,  in  due  time,  become  absorbed  in 
Bramh.  In  the  pestiferous  jungle  of  the  Sunderbands, 
swarming  with  numerous  reptiles  and  beasts  of  prey, 
these  mendicants  dwell,  evidently  devoid  of  fear  for  the 
present,  or  anxiety  for  the  future.  The  wild  fruit  and 
roots  of  trees  and  jungle  shrubs,  their  daily  food  ;  the 
dark  waters  of  the  river,  their  drink ;  grass  and  withered 
leaves,  their  couch ;  the  screech  of  the  hyena,  the  hiss 
of  the  serpent,  the  roar  of  the  tiger,  their  evening  lull- 
aby. Numbers  are  carried  off  by  the  fierce  beasts,  and 
naught  is  left  but  the  fresh  paw-marks  upon  the  damp 
sand,  and  some  droppings  of  the  victim's  blood.  The 
survivors  know  their  danger,  yet  live  their  brief  day  dead 
to  danger  or  dread. 

Poor  deluded  men,  who  can  refrain  from  a  mingled 
respect  and  pity  for  them !  And  who  can  help  wondering 
whether  the  midnight  gloom  of  their  soul  is  not  broken 
by  some  ray  of  light  from  above !  Is  it  not  conceivable 
that  the  intense  yearning  of  their  heart  may  be  recom- 
pensed with  some  droppings  of  comfort  from  on  high  ? 


Il8  PRACTICAL   HINDUISM. 

Oh,  for  the  sure  and  satisfying  light  of  the  gospel  of 
Christ,  to  break  in  with  comfort  and  healing  upon  the 
dark  horizon  of  these  earnest,  yet  deluded  minds? 

The  most  singular  stories  are  afloat  with  respect  to 
these  men,  who  are,  of  course,  revered  by  the  Hindus  as 
scarcely  inferior  to  the  gods.  Here  is  one  which  is  uni- 
versally credited :  "  Some  years  ago,  a  European,  with 
his  Hindu  clerk  and  other  servants,  passed  through  the 
Sunderbands.  One  day  as  the  European  was  walking 
through  the  forests,  he  saw  something  which  appeared 
to  be  a  human  being,  standing  in  a  hole  in  the  earth. 
The  European  went  up  and  beat  this  animated  clay  till 
the  blood  came  ;  but  it  did  not  appear  that  the  person 
was  conscious  of  the  least  pain, — he  uttered  no  cries,  nor 
manifested  the  least  sensibility.  The  European  was 
overwhelmed  with  astonishment,  and  asked  what  this 
could  mean.  The  clerk  said,  he  had  learnt  from  the 
shastras  that  there  existed  such  men  called  yogis,  who 
were  destitute  of  passion,  and  proof  against  pain.  After 
hearing  this  account,  the  European  ordered  his  clerk  to 
take  the  man  home.  He  did  so,  and  kept  him  some  time, 
at  his  house ;  when  fed,  he  would  eat,  and  at  proper 
times,  would  sleep,  and  attend  to  the  necessary  functions 
of  life ;  but  he  took  no  interest  in  anything.  At  length 
the  clerk,  wearied  with  keeping  him,  sent  him  to  the 
house  of  his  spiritual  teacher  at  Khurd.  Here  some 
bad  persons  put  fire  into  his  hands,  and  played  a  number 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  II g 

of  tricks  with  him,  but  without  making  the  least  impres- 
sion. The  teacher  was  soon  tired  of  his  guest,  and 
sent  him  to  Benares.  On  the  way,  when  the  boat  one 
evening  lay  to  for  the  night,  this  yogi  went  on  shore, 
and  while  he  was  walking  by  the  side  of  the  river, 
another  religious  mendicant,  with  a  smiling  countenance, 
met  him;  they  embraced  each  other,  and — were  seen  no 
more ! "  * 

Passing  down  the  holy  river,  here  named  the  Hooghly, 
we  come  through  suburban  woods  and  marshy  plantations 
to  the  great  city  of  Calcutta,  the  busy  and  flourishing 
metropolis  of  the  British  dominions  in  India.  Looking 
upon  its  vast  extent,  its  wealth  and  magnificence,  it  is 
difficult  to  recall  the  day  of  small  beginnings  when  this 
gay  and  thriving  metropolis  was  founded.  The  old 
mercantile  E.  I.  Company,  which  then  represented  the 
British  Government,  had  striven  in  vain  to  get  a  footing 
in  Bengal ;  the  Great  Mogal  in  Dehli  was  inexorable.  It 
was  at  this  juncture  that  an  English  physician  of  the 
name  of  Boughton,  by  healing  the  daughter  of  the 
Emperor  Shah  Jehan,  procured  an  imperial  ^r;«^;^  autho- 
rizing his  countrymen  to  trade  in  Bengal,  duty  free,  and  to 
establish  a  factory  at  Hooghly,  twenty-six  miles  from  the 
present  capital.  It  was  not  until  half  a  century  later, 
however,  that  the  capital  was  founded  upon  the  site  of 
three  native  villages,  Calcutta,  Chuttanutty  and  Govind- 

*■  Wai-d's  View,  p.  300. 


120  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

pore,  purchased  by  Job  Charnock,  the  governor,  from  the 
viceroy  of  Bengal  for  the  sum  of  Rs.  16,000.  The  Court 
of  directors,  characteristically,  thought  the  price  "very 

high." 

This  founder  of  Calcutta  was  a  shrewd  trader,  but  by 
no  means  a  model  in  other  respects.  He  married  a  native 
wife,  whom  he  had  rescued  from  the  funeral  pile,  and  by 
her  was  converted  to  Hinduism.  After  her  death,  he 
annually  sacrificed  a  cock  on  her  tomb. 

Upon  this  site  has  sprung  up  the  imposing  capital  of 
British  power  and  wealth  in  the  East.  Approaching  it 
from  the  sea,  the  elegant  villas,  the  splendid  gardens,  the 
tall  church  spires,  and  the  regular  and  substantial  outline 
of  Fort  William,  form  an  imposing  and  attractive  spec- 
tacle. From  Kidderpore  to  Cossipore,  the  city  has  a 
length  of  more  than  six  miles,  with  an  average  breadth  of 
one  and  one-half  miles.  A  handsome  quay,  similar  in 
many  respects  to  that  of  St.  Petersburg,  called  the  Strand, 
is  continued  for  three  miles  along  the  river-bank,  furnished 
with  about  thirty  principal  ghats  or  landing  places.  The 
sacred  river  is  here  about  a  mile  in  width  at  high  water, 
and  is  crowded  with  shipping.  The  residence  of  the 
British  Viceroy,  a  magnificent  pile  of  buildings,  close  to 
the  Strand,  is  the  centre  of  a  vast  accumulation  of 
splendid  edifices,  churches,  offices,  shops  and  private 
residences.  The  streets  are  crowded  with  the  most 
heterogenous  collection  of  human  beings  to  be  found  in 


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PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  121 

the  world.  Representatives  of  every  clime  and  nation, 
types  of  every  rank  and  station,  specimens  of  full-dress, 
half-dress  and  no  dress  at  all,  may  be  found  thronging  the 
busy  thoroughfares.  Calcutta  is,  in  fact,  the  greatest 
emporium  of  the  East,  Canton,  perhaps,  only  excepted. 
The  gross  amount  of  its  imports  and  exports  amount 
to  from  ten  to  twelve  million  pounds  sterling  a  year. 

This  repository  of  wealth,  the  centre  of  culture  and 
enlightenment,  is  no  exception  to  the  abounding  super- 
stitions of  heathenism.  The  elect  deity  of  the  Hindus 
of  Calcutta  is  the  goddess  Kali,  the  Moloch  of  Hindu 
mythology.  She  is  represented  as  a  very  black  woman 
with  four  arms  ;  in  one  she  holds  the  exterminating 
sword;  in  another,  by  the  hair, a  severed  human  head;  a 
third  points  downwards  indicating  the  destruction  which 
surrounds  her,  and  the  fourth  is  raised  upwards  pointing 
to  a  new  creation.  Her  wild,  dishevelled  hair  reaching  to 
her  feet,  her  necklace  of  human  heads,  her  protruding 
tongue,  her  cincture  of  blood-stained  hands,  and  her 
position  on  the  body  of  her  prostrate  husband,  make  her 
altogether  the  most  hideous  representation  possible. 
There  is  a  celebrated  temple  dedicated  to  her  at  Kali- 
ghat,  near  Calcutta,  and  impure  sacrifices  are  offered  at 
it ;  and  on  the  occasion  of  the  annual  festivals,  her 
temple  literally  swims  with  blood. 

Images,  effigies  and  pictures  of  this  goddess  are  wor- 
shipped at  particular  periods,  and  then  thrown  into  the 


122  PRACTICAL   HINDUISM. 

river.  So  powerful  is  the  influence  of  this  terrible  god- 
dess that  even  the  Mahomedans  offer  sacrifices  and  gifts 
to  her,  and  instances  are  even  on  record  of  Europeans 
making  thank-offerings  and  propitiatory  sacrifices  to  this 
hideous  deity.  These  disgraceful  proceedings,  however, 
belong  to  a  bygone  generation,  whose  demoralized  prac- 
tices have  left  an  ineffaceable  stain  upon  the  page  of 
British  Indian  history. 

Still  floating  down  the  sacred  stream,  past  the  city  of 
palaces,  through  sodden  rice  fields  and  plantation  groves, 
through  low  jungles  and  marshy  swamps,  we  come 
to  Sagar,  an  island  ten  miles  in  length  and  five  in  breadth, 
in  the  mouth  of  the  Hooghly,  before  it  leaps  finally  into 
the  sea,  sixty  miles  southwest  from  Calcutta.  This  is 
the  last,  though  not  the  least  sacred  shrine  of  the  mighty 
Ganga,  and  to  this  place  multitudes  throng  all  round  the 
year,  while  at  the  annual  festivals,  the  concourse  of  pil- 
grims is  immense. 

At  this  place  a  kind  of  sacrificial  suicide,  called  Kamya 
Maran,  was  formerly  practiced  by  the  pilgrims,  as  highly 
meritorious.  A  number  of  expressions  in  the  shastras 
countenance  the  practice  of  suicide,  and  some  of  the 
smritis  and  puranas  lay  down  rules  for  Kamya  maran, 
declaring  it,  however,  a  crime  in  a  bramhan,  but  meritor- 
ious in  a  sudra.  The  person  is  directed  first,  to  offer 
an  atonement  for  all  his  sins,  by  making  a  present  of 
gold  to  bramhans,  and   honoring   them   with   a   feast; 


PRACTICAL   HINDUISM.  1 23. 

afterwards  putting  on  new  apparel,  and  adorning  himself 
with  garlands  of  flowers,  he  is  accompanied  to  the  river 
by  a  band  of  music.  If  he  has  any  property,  he  gives  it 
to  whom  he  pleases;  then,  sitting  down  by  the  side  of  the 
river,  he  repeats  the  name  of  his  idol,  and  proclaims  that 
he  is  now  about  to  renounce  his  life  in  this  place,  in  order 
to  obtain  such  or  such  a  benefit.  After  this,  he  and  his 
friends  proceed  on  a  boat,  and  fastening  pans  of  water  to 
his  body,  he  plunges  into  the  stream.  The  spectators 
cry  out  Hari  Bal !  Hari  Bal !  (Huzza !  Huzza !)  and 
then  retire.* 

**  It  is  considered  an  auspicious  sign  if  the  person  is 
speedily  seized  by  a  shark  or  an  alligator ;  but  his  future 
happiness  is  supposed  to  be  very  doubtful  if  he  should 
remain  long  in  the  water  before  he  is  drowned."  So 
great  was  the  eagerness  to  renounce  life  in  this  place, 
that  the  British  Government  was  compelled  to  send  down 
a  strong  guard  to  prevent  persons  from  murdering  them- 
selves and  their  children  at  this  junction  of  the  Ganga 
with  the  sea,  at  the  annual  festivals  held  in  this  place. 

It  has  not  unfrequently  happened  that  when  a  man 
has  thus  determined,  and  is  accompanied  to  the  river- 
side by  his  friends  and  the  attendant  brahmans,  that  his 
resolution  fails,  and  he  is  unwilling  to  go  forward.  In 
this  emergency  his  friends  are  ready  to  assist  him  in  his 
meritorious  purpose,  and  have  been  known  to  push  the 

*  Ward's  View,  p.  267. 
3 


124  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

unhappy  victim  in,  not  doubting  that  they  were  helping 
him  up  to  heaven.  Indigent  persons,  people  with  incur- 
able diseases,  afflicted  and  sorrowing  persons,  most 
commonly  practice  this  sacrifice,  confident  that  thereby 
their  miseries  and  ailments  are  cut  off,  and  they  received 
into  heaven. 

There  existed  formerly  at  Ksheru,  a  village  near  Nad- 
dea,  an  instrument  called  the  Karavat^  which  was  used 
by  devotees  to  cut  off  their  own  heads.  The  instrument 
was  made  in  the  shape  of  a  half  moon,  with  a  sharp  edge, 
and  was  placed  at  the  back"  of  the  neck,  having  chains 
fastened  at  the  two  extremities.  The  infatuated  devotee, 
placing  his  feet  on  the  stirrups,  gave  a  violent  jerk,  which 
instantly  severed  his  head  from  his  body. 

Here,  at  the  river  side,  it  was  not  uncommon  for  widows 
to  be  buried  alive  with  the  corpses  of  their  husbands. 
An  eye  witness.  Captain  Kemp,  relates  that  an  artizan 
being  dangerously  sick,  he  was  placed  close  to  the  water 
of  the  Ganga,  and  immersed  at  intervals,  while  the  sacred 
water  was  poured  into  his  mouth  with  a  small  shell. 
Thus  exposed  and  treated,  he  died,  when  his  wife  deter- 
mined to  be  buried  with  his  body.  A  circular  grave  of 
about  fifteen  feet  in  circumference,  and  five  or  six  feet  deep 
was  prepared ;  the  corpse  was  then,  after  reading  certain 
mantras,  placed  in  the  grave  in  a  sitting  posture.  The 
young  widow  now  came  forward,  and  having  circum- 
ambulated the  grave  seven  times,  crying  out,  Hari  Bal ! 


PRACTICAL    HINDUISM.  [25 

Hari  Bal !  descended  into  it.  She  placed  herself  in  a 
sitting  posture,  with  her  face  to  the  back  of  her  husband, 
embracing  the  corpse  with  her  left  arm,  and  reclining  her 
head  on  his  shoulders ;  the  other  hand  she  placed  over 
her  own  head,  with  her  forefinger  erect,  which  she  moved 
in  a  circular  direction.  The  earth  was  then  deliberately 
put  round  them,  two  men  being  in  the  grave  for  the  pur- 
pose of  stamping  it  round  the  living  and  the  dead,  which 
they  did  as  the  gardener  does  around  a  plant  newly  trans- 
planted, till  the  earth  rose  to  a  level  with  the  surface,  or 
two  or  three  feet  above  the  heads  of  the  entombed.  As 
her  head  was  covered  sometime  before  the  fingers  of  her 
right  hand,  it  was  easy  to  see  whether  any  relenting  or 
regret  was  manifested ;  but  the  finger  moved  round  in 
the  same  manner  as  at  first,  till  the  earth  closed  the 
scene.* 

And  now,  standing  beside  the  sacred  river,  as  with 
heave  and  surge  and  swelling  surf,  she  leaps  into  the 
dark  expanse  of  water  beyond,  we  pause  for  a  moment 
ere  we  bid  the  mighty  Ganga  adieu. 

Ah  !  sacred  stream,  rising  amidst  impassable  barriers 
of  untrodden  snow,  watering  half  a  continent,  receiving 
numerous  tributaries, — what  woes,  what  sorrows,  what 
weight  of  grief,  what  sighings  for  deliverance  dost  thou 
bear  upon  thy  bosom  into  the  dark  ocean  !  At  once 
cathedral  and  cloister,  shrine  and  temple, — what  prayers, 

*  Ward's  View,  xlviii. 


126  PRACTICAL    HINDUISM. 

what  aspirations,  what  breathings  upward,  what  sacrifices 
have  been  offered  upon  thine  altar !  Ah !  and  what 
heartless,  unnatural  cruelties  have  been  perpetrated  upon 
thy  bosom; — yes,  an  altar,  yet  more  appropriately  the 
bloody  shambles  for  idolatrous  and  superstitious  butch- 
ery !  Yea,  and  within  the  depths  of  thy  mysterious 
w^omb  a  charnel-house  slumbers — slumbers  softly  and 
silently — slumbers  till  the  blast  of  the  resurrection  morn 
calls  upon  thee,  O  Ganga,  to  give  up  thy  dead ! 

Thus  buried  in  reverie,  deep  and  unutterable,  the 
shadows  steal  on  and  the  curtains  of  night  gather,  while 
the  pale  watchers  from  the  sky  look  down  with  mild  and 
benignant  gaze.  Look  around.  Upon  the  river  and  by 
its  side  are  numerous  lamps,  kindled  by  devotees,  emit- 
ting bright  and  cheering  light.  See  how  gaily  they 
float  down  the  stream  into  the  boundless  expanse  of 
waters  beyond.  So  bright,  so  beautiful  is  the  spectacle, 
that  the  gloom  and  the  sorrow  of  my  painful  meditation 
are  lifted,  and  hope  and  joy  fill  my  soul  again ! 

Ah  !  is  this  not  a  parable  vouchsafed  for  my  teach- 
ing ?  That  dark  river  is  India's  heathenism,  flowing  on 
gloomily  towards  the  sea  of  Eternal  midnight.  These 
lights  on  the  shore,  these  floating  lamps  upon  the  water, 
— are  they  not  the  feet  of  those  who  publish  glad  tidings, 
the  glad  tidings  of  salvation !  Few,  indeed,  at  first, 
few,  feeble  and  far  between,  but  rapidly  -increasing  and 
brightening,  until  the  river  is   covered  with   lamps,  and 


PRACTICAL    HINDUIS  12/ 

its  dark  waters  are  lit  up  with  a  serene  and  genial  glow. 
Brighter  and  brighter  it  glows,  until  the  horizon  reddens 
and  the  sky  brightens,  and  the  morning  breaks  upon  poor 
benighted  India.  Then,  as  the  Sun  of  Righteousness 
rises  to  the  meridian,  that  once  dark  and  swollen  river, 
stained  with  the  carnage  of  unnumbered  cruelties,  now 
glowing  like  a  mirror  and  reflecting  the  light  and  glory 
of  the  day,  becomes  the  pathway  of  light  to  the  great 
ocean;  and  thus  India,  redeemed,  becomes  the  harbinger 
and  handmaid  for  the  regeneration  of  the  world  of  heath- 
enism beyond ! 

God  hasten  the  day!    Amen. 


IV. 

DAL  BHAT;' 

OR, 

The  Hindu  at  Home. 


The  life  of  nations,  like  that  of  individuals,  has  an 
exterior  and  an  interior  aspect.  The  exterior  has  refer- 
ence to  those  acts,  utterances  and  exercises  which  con- 
nect life  with  those  around  us ;  the  interior  is  the  life  of 
the  individual  hidden  from  outward  gaze,  yet  revealing 
the  deepest,  truest  lineaments  of  personal  character.  If 
I  wish  to  become  truly  and  intimately  acquainted  with  a 
person,  I  must  not  only  observe  him  on  "  Change,"  in  the 
public  thoroughfare,  or  in  the  crowded  haunts  of  pleasure ; 
I  must  seek  him  at  his  home  where,  reserve  and  artificial 
safeguards  thrown  altogether  aside,  he  moves  and  speaks 
and  acts  in  truest  accord  with  his  inner  nature. 

Thus,  with  the  nation.  After  we  have  surveyed  its 
institutions  and  establishments,  studied  its  creeds  and 
confessions,  explored   its  rules  and  rounds  of  religious 

'-Dal,  a  soup  made  of  a  kind  of  pulse,  eaten  with  B  hat  ox  boiled  rice, 
foraiing  the  Hindu's  common  diet. 
128 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 29 

duty,  its  true  life  remains  but  partially  revealed  and 
understood.  We  need  to  get  behind  the  curtain  and  to 
survey  the  play  and  counter-play  of  its  deeper  sensibili- 
ties. These  are  usually  represented  in  its  private  and 
domestic  usages,  customs  and  manners.  And  with  a 
nation  like  the  Hindus,  with  whom  religion  is  interwoven 
in  the  fabric  of  every  social  and  domestic  event,  such  a 
study  is  especially  needed  to  furrfish  an  adequate  concep- 
tion of  their  moral  and  religious  position.  Let  it  be 
remembered  that  it  is  not  religion  as  it  is  entombed  in 
the  Vedas,  subtilized  in  the  Upanishads,  or  allegorized 
in  the  Puranas,  which  moulds  and  shapes  the  life  of  the 
Hindu  masses,  but  religion,  as  it  percolates  through  the 
every-day  affairs  of  his  ordinary  life.  Few  know  and 
fewer  care  about  the  philosophical  refinements  of  these 
sacred  writings, — it  is  the  still,  but  deep  current  of  moral 
and  religious  thought  flowing  through  all  the  events  of 
their  childhood,  youth  and  riper  years,  which  make 
the  Hindus  essentially  what  they  are  to-day. 

Hence,  we  must  know  the  Hindu  at  home.  We  must 
understand  his  sentiments,  and  enter  into  sympathy  with 
his  thoughts  and  feelings.  We  must  trace  the  meander- 
ings  of  his  religious  instincts  through  his  personal  life, 
and  accurately  measure  the  facilities  or  resistances  which 
these  offer  to  evangelizing  effort.  It  is  here  that  the 
average  missionary  fails.     He  has  studied  the  traditions 

of  the  Hindu   system,   mastered   its  philosophy,  waded 
6*  I 


130  THE   HINDU   AT    HOME. 

through  its  Hterature,  yet,  really  he  is  all  but  a  stranger 
to  the  Hindu  personally.  He  is  brought  into  relation 
with  him  officially,  as  the  propagator  of  a  new  faith,  but 
there  are  no  bonds  of  sympathy  or  fellow-feeling  which 
bind  the  Christian  teacher  to  the  heathen.  The  social 
exclusiveness  of  the  Hindu,  and  the  conventional  distance 
of  the  foreigner — European  or  American — as  the  represen- 
tative of  the  ruling  rac«5  co-operate,  no  doubt,  in  bringing 
about  this  estrangement ;  but  the  chief  cause  is  the  for- 
eigner's deficiency  in  acquaintance  and  sympathy  with 
the  native's  personal  life.  We  believe  an  accurate  and 
sympathetic  acquaintance  with  the  Hindu's  habits  of 
private  life  to  be  more  important,  as  a  factor  of  access  to 
his  heart,  than  the  most  intelligent  perception  of  the 
theories  of  his  speculative  or  systematic  philosophy. 

A  view  of  the  inexorable  caste  system,  prevalent  in 
India,  is  a  necessary  preface  to  an  account  of  the  Hindu  at 
home.  The  original  four  divisions  into  Brahman,  the  priest, 
Kshatriya,  the  soldier,  Vaisya,  the  merchant,  and  Sudra, 
the  servile  masses, — still  exist,  only  there  are  numer- 
ous sections  and  sub-divisions.  The  Brahman  is  to  be 
found  pursuing  other  callings  besides  the  priestly  office  to 
which  he  was  originally  designated.  The  soldierly  Ksha- 
triya, having  now  no  employment  for  the  spear,  the  sword 
and  the  buckler,  is  now  frequently  the  landholder  or  far- 
mer, or  even  merchant.  The  Vaisyas  are  generally  retail 
merchants  in  grain,  cloths,  drugs,  etc.     The  Sudras,  or 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  I3I 

lowest  class,  embrace  the  kayaths  or  writers,  tillers  and 
agriculturists,  tradesmen  and  artizans,  barbers,  cowherds, 
shepherds,  fishermen,  fullers,  potters,  weavers,  shoemakers 
and  scavengers. 

These  several  castes  are  absolutely  walled  off  one  from 
the  other.  There  is  no  social  intercourse,  no  intermar- 
riage. The  son  may  not  adopt  any  calling  or  trade  but 
his  father's.  Society  is  thus  stereotyped  in  the  narrowest 
grooves,  and  progress  and  advancement  utterly  frus- 
trated. 

Now,  the  customs  and  manners  of  these  various  castes 
differ  in  many  important  particulars.  This  is  to  be 
expected,  since  these  usages  and  customs  are  largely  the 
vehicles  for  their  religious  instincts ;  and,  religiously, 
there  is  a  broad  and  unbridgeable  gap  between  the  three 
first  "  twice-born  "  castes,  and  the  mean  "  once-born  " 
Sudras.  The  lowest  class  have  scarcely  any  religion  at 
all ;  they  are  outcasts,  and  are  neither  expected  nor  con- 
sidered fit  to  engage  in  religious  exercises.  The  Brah- 
man will  not  go  into  their  houses  to  perform  piija  or  to 
eat.  If  some  priest  should  be  bribed  to  come  and  go 
through  some  form  of  prescribed  worship,  the  Sudra, 
who  invited  him,  cannot  join  in  the  holy  rites  ;  he  must 
stand  afar  and  merely  look  on  ! 

But  superstition  supplies  what  religion  denies  them. 
Fear  of  demons  and  evil  spirits  haunt  them  constantly, 
and  rites  and  processes  are   devised  to  get  rid  of  these 


132  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

influences.  Omens  and  portents  are  eagerly  looked  and 
watched  for;  and  their  domestic  usages  are  naturally  cast 
in  the  mould  of  these  superstitions. 

Again,  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  same  caste  do 
not  correspond,  in  every  particular,  in  all  parts  of  India. 
There  are  local  idiosyncracies  and  traditions,  which  give 
hue  and  tinge  to  the  domestic  usages  of  the  people,  and 
shape  their  personal  life.  The  North  of  India,  however, 
may  be  selected  as  the  truest  representative  of  Hinduism, 
in  general,  and  a  sketch  of  the  habits  of  life  of  the  better 
castes  in  this  typical  region,  is  all  that  can  be  attempted 
within  the  limits  of  these  observations. 

Mul  Raj  and  Fateh  Singh  are  two  brothers,  doing  a 
large  business  in  timber  and  hardware.  They  are  Ksha- 
triyas,  or  Rajputs, — the  haughty  soldier  caste,  and  are 
proud  of  the  warlike  traditions  of  their  fathers,  although 
they  are  now  very  quiet  and  peaceable  citizens.  They 
have  extensive  business  premises  in  a  populous  part  of 
the  city,  consisting  of  a  large  timber  yard,  and  godowns 
for  the  storage  of  miscellaneous  goods,  suitable  to  their 
trade.  The  timber  yard  is  only  a  specimen  show ;  their 
chief  stock  lies  at  the  river  side.  The  godowns  are  low 
and  dingy,  and  stocked  with  a  promiscuous  assortment 
of  goods,  without  arrangement,  order  or  classification. 
Lumber,  which  was  old  and  obsolete  in  a  previous  gen- 
eration, is  tossed  and  tumbled  about  with  more  modern 
and  useful  goods.     The  native  merchant  never  attempts 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 33 

a  clearance  of  old  and  used-up  stores ;  from  generation 
to  generation  the  accumulation  goes  on,  the  new  ming- 
ling with  the  old,  in  a  confusion  hopeless  to  all  but  the 
initiated  proprietor.  He  can  lay  his  hand  upon  anything 
from  a  nail  to  an  anchor,  and  fill  up  any  order  for  the 
most  heterogenous  assortment  of  things  with  extraordi- 
nary rapidity. 

Their  private  dwelling  is  at  some  distance  from  their 
business  premises.  In  the  back  of  the  street,  through 
yonder  lane,  you  come  to  a  brick-built,  white-plastered 
house  with  flat  roof  and  low  entrance.  Pass  in  through 
that  narrow  door,  and  you  come  to  a  range  of  small,  low- 
roofed,  ill-ventilated  rooms ;  beyond  them,  you  reach  an 
open  court-yard,  at  one  end  of  which  is  a  well  with  a 
rough  pulley  wherewith  to  draw  water.  On  the  other 
side  are  more  rooms  of  the  same  kind,  in  which  the 
women  and  children  live.  You  are  struck  with  the 
straitness  and  smallness  of  the  rooms  and  the  absence 
of  ventilation  and  light.  The  doors  are  few  and  low ; 
each  door-leaf  is  a  solid  plank,  without  glass  or  Venetians. 
When  they  are  closed,  the  room  is  dark,  save  where  some 
rays  of  light  glimmer  through  narrow,  barred  windows. 

What  about  the  furniture  and  furnishings?  In  the 
outer  rooms  are  a  couple  of  very  rough,  timber-bottomed 
chairs,  and  a  square  wooden  platform,  or  dais,  about  a 
foot  high,  called  a  takJit.  Upon  this,  the  neighbors  and 
friends  seat  themselves   for  an  evening  chat,  while  the 


134  THE   HINDU   AT    HOME. 

chairs  are  reserved  for  honored  and  extraordinary  visitors. 
The  inner  rooms  are  still  more  barely  furnished.  A  few 
heavy,  stoutly-built  boxes  with  lock  and  key  for  valua- 
bles ;  some  round  baskets,  plastered  and  gaily  colored,  for 
ordinary  things  ;  a  few  low  stools  ;  rough,  but  strong  bed- 
steads, and  a  large  array  of  cooking  utensils,  scrubbed 
and  burnished  bright,  are  all  that  the  rooms  contain. 
Indeed,  this  is  all  the  stock  of  furniture  and  furnishing 
which  the  wealthiest  Hindu  home  possesses.  Sometimes, 
in  the  case  of  those  who  have  the  means  and  are  accus- 
tomed to  receive  European  visitors,  there  is  an  outside 
reception  room,  adorned  with  gaudy  pictures  and  mirrors 
in  guilt  frames  ;  but  the  interior  apartments  are  stereo- 
typed upon  the  model  now  described.  The  Hindu's 
wealth  is  not  invested  in  furniture  or  upholstery,  but  in 
solid  jewellery,  and  profusion  and  variety  of  cooking, 
eating  and  washing  utensils. 

But  now  as  to  the  family.  First  of  all,  there  is  the  old 
patriarch  of  the  family, — the  aged  and  honored  father  of 
Mul  Raj  and  Fateh  Singh.  He  is  old  and  infirm  now, — 
though  he  could  not  tell  you  how  old, — but  the  venera- 
ble old  sire  rigidly  exacts  the  homage  and  honor  due  to 
his  patriarchal  position.  Among  the  ladies,  there  are  the 
wives  of  Mul  Raj  and  Fateh  Singh,  and  a  young  sister, 
eight  years  of  age ;  while  two  children  of  Mul  Raj,  a 
boy  and  a  girl,  complete  the  family  group.  Fateh  Singh, 
recently  married,  has  no  children. 


THE    HINDU   AT    HOME.  1 35 

The  aged  father  is  head  of  the  household.  He  is,  of 
course,  too  old  to  engage  in  any  active  work ;  but  he 
directs,  controls,  and  conserves  the  entire  household 
according  to  the  laws  of  Hindu  patriarchal  government. 

The  two  brothers,  living  in  the  same  house  and  pur- 
suing the  same  occupation,  have  all  things  in   common. 

The  elder  brother,  Mul  Raj,  is  so  much  the  senior 
that  his  younger  brother  looks  up  to  him  for  direction 
and  advice.  Their  wives  sustain  similar  relations,  and 
generally  there  is  concord  and  good  feeling  between  the 
two  families.  The  young  sister,  Rukminee,  occupying 
the  position  midway  between  the  ladies  and  the  children, 
is  an  object  of  interest  to  all.  Though  only  eight,  and 
in  mind,  manner  and  countenance,  only  a  child,  do  not 
be  surprised  if  I  tell  you,  that  she  is  married !  Her  hus- 
band is  only  a  boy  often,  the  son  of  a  well-to-do  zemin- 
der,  or  land  holder,  in  a  distant  district.  Though  mar- 
ried, she,  for  the  present,  lives  with  her  parents,  as  the 
Gauna,  or  ceremony,  which  sends  the  bride  finally  to  the 
husband's  home,  has  not  yet  taken  place. 

Of  the  children  we  need  not  speak  particularly,  save 
to  say  that  they  are  bright,  cheerful  and  intelligent,  the 
girl  Chameli,  six  years  old,  the  boy,  Hunar  Singh,  two 
years  younger,  fondly  and  familiarly  called  Hunaroo ! 

Let  us  follow  the  family  through  a  single  ordinary  day 
in  its  home  life.  The  Hindus  are  early  risers.  In  the 
warm    season,  extending   from   April    to    October,  they 


136  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

sleep  either  upon  the  house  top  or  in  the  court-yard,  or 
in  the  verandah,  if  rain  should  be  threatening ;  and  are 
usually  up  at  five  or  earlier  in  the  morning.  In  the  cold 
weather,  when  they  sleep  within  doors,  they  rise  later,  but 
even  then,  they  are  out  before  seven. 

Rising  in  the  morning,  while  but  half  awake,  the 
Hindu  repeats  the  name  of  Rama  several  times.  Hap- 
pening to  yawn,  he  immediately  fillips  his  thumb  and 
middle  finger,  though  he  does  not  know  why.  Rising 
from  his  bed,  he  repairs  to  the  fields  for  neccessary  pur- 
poses. Returning,  he  prepares  for  his  morning  toilette. 
He  plucks  a  twig  from  the  bitter  Neeni  tree,  breaks  off  a 
span  length  of  it,  crushes  one  end  between  his  teeth  and 
extemporizes  a  tooth  brush.  He  next  draws  up  water 
from  the  well  in  the  yard  with  an  iron  bucket,  takes  a 
Iota  full  of  it,  and  prepares  to  wash  his  hands  and  face. 
This  is  quickly  done ;  he  then  throws  on  an  extra  gar- 
ment upon  him, — the  thickness  and  texture  depending 
on  the  season  and  weather,  lights  his  hooka,  takes  a  few 
pulls,  with  its   euphonious  hiibble-btibble ;  and  is  ready  to 

go  out. 

With  a  passing  Rama,  Rama,  to  friend  or  acquaintance 
and  a  neighborly  gossip  by  the  way,  he  repairs  to  his 
place  of  business.  While  going,  he  will  sedulously  avoid 
those  sights  and  sounds  which  may  augur  ill  for  the  day. 
Should  one  sneeze,  or  should  he  hear  the  cawing  of  a 
crow  or  the    cry  of  a  kite,  or  should  he  meet  an  oil- 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 3/ 

man,  or  one  blind  or  lame,  or  see  a  cat  cross  his  path,  he 
would  be  greatly  distressed  as  to  the  day  before  him.  On 
the  other  hand,  if  a  fox  cross  his  path,  if  he  hear  a 
gong  or  shell  summoning  to  worship,  or  if  he  meet  a 
Brahman  with  his  head  uncovered,  or — a  woman  of  the 
town, — he  would  rejoice,  hailing  it  as  an  auspicious  omen. 
Some  are  so  grossly  superstitious  that  if  any  evil  portent 
occurs  on  the  way  they  would  return  to  their  home,  have 
a  smoke,  or  chew  a  betel  leaf,  and  proceed  afresh. 

Leaving  the  male  representatives  of  our  Hindu  home 
at  their  business  for  the  present,  we  return  to  the  women 
at  the  house.  They,  too,  rise  early,  dispatch  a  hasty  toi- 
lette, and  proceed  straight  to  their  daily  work.  The  first 
duty  is  to  cleanse  the  cooking  and  other  utensils,  chiefly 
of  brass.  This  is  done  with  the  utmost  thoroughness, 
with  moistened  clay  or  sand  and  water.  Then  the  rooms 
are  swept  and  tidied  up.  Water  for  culinary  purposes  is 
then  drawn  from  the  well  either  by  the  ladies  themselves 
or  by  a  female  servant.  These  preliminaries  being  settled, 
the  good  wife  prepares  to  cook  the  morning  meal.  Of 
course,  the  wheat  has  been  ground  before.  When  this 
needs  to  be  done,  the  women  rise  as  early  as  three  or 
four  in  the  morning,  and  sit  at  the  grindstone,  which  oc- 
cupies an  important  part  of  the  domestic  institution. 
Sitting  opposite  each  other  and  taking  hold  upon  the 
handle  which  causes  the  upper  stone  to  revolve  sharply 
upon   the  lower  which  is  fixed  to  the  earth,  two  women, 


138  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

— either  the  ladies  of  the  house,  or  servants  hired  by 
them, — grind  all  the  wheat  needed  for  the  present  use  of 
the  family. 

The  first  operation  in  the  culinary  process  is  to  cleanse 
the  kitchen  or  cooking  place.  This  must  be  done  daily, 
as  the  place  is  supposed  to  contract  ceremonial  defilement 
by  the  day's  use.  Water  and  clay,  made  into  a  very  thin 
paste,  are  used  for  the  purpose, — after  which  the  whole 
place  is  purified  by  a  thin  plaster  of  cow  dung. 

And  now,  while  preparing  for  or  engaged  in  the  nec- 
essary and — to  the  Hindu  woman — by  no  means  humili- 
ating work  of  cooking,  friends  or  neighbors  drop  in  for 
a  few  moments  gossip,  which  in  India,  as  elsewhere,  is 
the  smoky  fuel  of  social  life.  Here  is  a  middle  aged  and 
heavy  looking  woman  carrying  a  boy  over  two  years  old 
upon  her  hips.  With  a — "and  how  are  you  to-day, 
mother  of  Chameli?"  in  the  form  of  a  morning  saluta- 
tion, uttered  in  a  loud,  croaking  voice,  she  squats  right 
down  on  the  ground,  setting  her  child  before  her. 

Let  it  be  noted  that  this  is  the  usual  form  of  address 
to  a  mother  and  wife.  If  she  be  not  a  mother,  the 
address  is, — wife  of  such  a  one.  Husband  and  wife 
never  name  each  other ;  they  address,  and  speak  of  each 
other  as  the  father  or  mother  of  such  a  one — naming 
the  eldest  child.  If  there  be  no  children,  other  expres- 
sions are  used  which  are  understood  as  covertly  having 
this  signification. 


THE    HINDU   AT    HOME.  1 39 

"  All  is  well  with  me,"  replies  Chameli's  mother,  look- 
ing up  from  her  work,  "  but  how  is  your  boy  to-day  ?  " 

'*  Oh  badly,  very  badly,  indeed !  Ill  luck  to  that 
kambakht  mother  of  Sarupia  for  her  evil  turn  to  me. 
and  mine." 

"  Why,  what  has  she  done  ? "  ask  all  the  women 
together  with  keen  curiosity. 

"  Done  !  ^'  replies  the  heavy  looking  lady.  "  Why  she 
has  succeeded  in  her  evil  purpose  at  last.  But  never 
mind  :  Hdndi  gai  to  gai,  kiitte  ki  zdt  to  pahcJidni  (the 
pot  is  smashed  and  gone  but  the  nature  of  the  dog  is 
known). 

"  Rama !  Rama ! "  exclaim  her  female  auditors  in 
sympathetic  chorus. 

''But  what  did  Sarupia's  mother  dof  persists  the 
eight  year  old  married  sister. 

"Just  hear  her,"  reproachfully  rejoins  the  irate  mother; 
"as  though  I  should  blame  the  wretched  woman  for 
nothing !     But  is  it  not  true 

Andhe  ke  age  rowe 
Apna  dida  khowe  !  " 

(weeping  before  the  blind,  we  hurt  our  own  eyes). 

"  Of  course !  Of  course !  "  rejoin  all  the  women  in 
sympathetic  harmony,  while  Rukminee  subsides  instantly. 

'^ Do'' — proceeds  the  irascible  mother,  now  that  she 
is  no  longer  pressed  for  details, — "  why  that  wretched 


140  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  ^ 

woman  has  had  an  evil  eye  upon  me  and  mine  for  a  long, 
long  while.  I  have  known  it  all  the  time,  but  I  would 
give  her  no  chance  to  vent  her  unlucky  spite  on  me,  and 
so  kept  this  poor  boy  out  of  her  sight  as  long  as  I  could. 
But  four  days  ago,  I  was  bringing  him  out  in  my  arms, 
so  as  to  give  him  an  airing,  and  as  bad  luck  would  have 
it, — there  she  stood !  I  could  not  very  well  avoid  her, 
and  this  poor  child  smiled  in  her  face,  when  she  abruptly 
says, — *  How  well  your  child  is  looking  to-day  ! '  " 

'' Are  Rama  !  Rdvia  ! ''  exclaim  all  her  auditors  in 
chorus,  in  stern  deprecation.  *'  How  could  she  say 
that ! " 

"  How  could  she,  indeed !  well  you  know  my  poor 
boy  faded  like  a  leaf  from  that  unlucky  moment.  I 
knew  her  evil  eye  had  done  it ;   I  am  sure  of  it ! " 

"  Well,  but  what  have  you  done,  good  mother,  to 
destroy  the  spell  ?  " 

"  I  have  done  what  I  could.  Several  times  have  I 
turned  my  hand  over  his  head,  but  he  is  still  poorly." 
[This  **  turning  the  hand  "  is  the  prescribed  process  for 
removing  the  effect  of  an  evil  eye.  A  little  chaff,  salt, 
etc.,  are  taken  in  the  hand  and  waved  over  the  child's 
head  two  or  three  times,  and  then  cast  into  the  fire]. 

"  Oh  yes,  see  how  poorly  he  is ! "  exclaim  all  the 
women  in  chorus, — though  the  boy  seems  in  excellent 
health  and  condition  for  an  unweaned  child  of  three,  but 
of  course,  they  dare  not  say  so. 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  I4I 

"  I  have  vowed  a  kid  to  Kali  Mai,"  adds  the  mother, 
"when  she  restores  my  boy  to  health,  and  I  trust  she 
may  have  it  soon." 

Meanwhile  the  hours  have  gone  by  rapidly.  It  is  now 
almost  eleven  o'clock,  and  the  good-men,  Mul  Raj  and 
his  brother,  leaving  their  business  in  charge  of  a  servant, 
repair  to   their  home  for  their  first  meal.     Leaving  his 

1 

shoes  at  the  door,  the  Hindu  enters  the  yard  and  pre- 
pares first  of  all  to  bathe.  This  is  not  only  a  sanitary 
process,  it  is  a  religious  rite.  Stripping  off  all  his  gar- 
ments, save  his  dhoti  or  the  cloth  which  he  girds  round 
himself,  he  draws  water  and  performs  his  ablutions.  He 
carefully  rinses  out  his  janeo  or  sacred  cord,  washes  the 
solitary  lock  upon  his  head ;  then  making  a  hollow  with 
both  his  hands,  he  offers  water  to  the  sun,  turning  his 
face  to  that  luminary,  muttering  words  of  prayer  and 
praise.  Then  drying  himself  he  prepares  for  worship  or 
puja.  This  should  strictly  be  performed  three  times  a 
day,  at  sunrise,  noon  and  sunset;  but  religious  Hindus 
who  have  business  employments,  seldom  find  time  for 
more  than  two  daily  seasons  of  worship. 

Both  Vishnu  and  Shiva  have  devoted  votaries ;  the 
Kshatriyas  generally  choose  the  latter  for  their  guardian 
deity.  Our  Hindu  having  bathed,  without  clothing 
himself  further,  seats  himself  upon  a  woolen  cloth,  or  a 
mat  of  coosa  grass,  or  on  a  deer  skin ;  other  skins  are 
unclean.     He  now  loosens  one  end  of  his  dlioti,  though 


142  THE   HINDU   AT    HOME. 

he  cannot  explain  why ;  then  he  knots  the  single  lock 
upon  his  head.  He  next  places  the  image  of  Shiva 
before  him,  bathes  it  with  water,  anoints  it  with  chandmi 
(sandal  wood),  offers  it  the  leaf  of  the  bel  tree,  with  flow- 
ers, fruits  and  sweetmeats.  These  are  screened  for  a 
time,  so  that  the  god  may  eat  undisturbed,  some  incense 
is  now  burnt  in  a  cup ;  then  a  lamp  is  lit  and  moved  in  a 
circle  three  or  four  times  before  the  image.  A  little  bell 
is  tinkled  to  please  the  deity,  and  hymns  and  prayers  are 
repeated.  The  worshipper  now  asks  the  god  if  he  is 
happy,  and  with  charming  simplicity  answers  for  him, 
"  Very  happy !  "  A  particular  short  prayer  called  the 
Gaetri  is  supposed  to  have  special  avail  in  procuring  for- 
giveness of  sins  and  heart  cleansing.  It  runs  thus:  "O 
earth,  firmament  and  heaven,  we  meditate  on  the  great 
light  of  the  Sun ;  may  it  enlighten  our  hearts." 

Each  adult  male  of  the  household  performs  puja  by 
himself  Then  they  come  together  for  the  forenoon  meal. 
The  place  where  they  eat  is  called  the  Chauka,  which  is 
part  of  the  floor  of  the  kitchen,  and  like  it,  is  cleansed 
every  day.  Still  stripped  of  all  their  clothing  except  the 
dhoti,  bareheaded  and  barefooted,  they  gather  round  upon 
the  bare  floor.  The  women  and  the  children  are  not 
permitted  to  sit  down  with  them.  The  food  is  then  placed 
in  little  plates  or  platters.  Of  course,  no  animal  food  is 
taken  ;  the  morning  meal  consists  commonly  of  wheaten 
cakes  fried  in  ghee,  or  baked  on  coals,  with  ddl  (a  soup 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOxME.  I43 

made  of  a  kind  of  pulse),  or  vegetable  curry  called 
tarkdri.  Milk,  cream  or  daJii  (curdled  milk)  with  sweet- 
meats and  fruit  close  the  breakfast. 

The  Hindu,  of  course,  eats  with  his  fingers.  The 
right  hand  is  used  for  this  purpose,  the  left  being  stretched 
out  as  far  as  it  will  go,  being  unclean.  With  great  dex- 
terity, the  fingers  and  thumb  of  the  right  hand  seize  upon 
the  morsel,  roll  it  into  a  ball,  and  convey  it  to  the  mouth. 
When  the  last  morsel  is  eaten,  the  fingers  are  licked 
clean  with  infinite  relish  ;  then  the  hands  and  face  are 
once  more  washed,  and  the  meal  is  over. 

If  a  man  of  inferior  caste  were  to  touch  the  Hindu 
while  eating,  he  would  immediately  rise  and  not  take 
another  mouthful  if  he  were  to  go  without  food  the  whole 
day  ;  he  would  throw  out  even  that  which  he  might  have 
in  his  mouth. 

Not  until  the  men  have  eaten  and  left,  can  the  women 
come  to  the  C/unika.  A  wife  will  eat  on  her  husband's 
plate,  and  gladly  partake  of  the  remnants  left. 

After  breakfast,  the  men  repair  to  their  business ;  the 
women  revert  to  their  household  duties.  At  sunset,  when 
it  is  possible  for  the  good  man  of  the  house  to  get  away 
from  his  work,  he  repairs  to  his  home  and  performs  puja 
again.  As  dinner  will  not  be  ready  for  some  time,  friends 
drop  in,  and  smoke  imd  discuss  the  topics  of  the  day  for 
hours.  When  dinner  is  ready,  generally  about  ten  at 
night,  the  men  wash  their  hands,  feet  and  faces ;  then 


144  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

with  bare  heads  and  bodies,  and  dripping  hands  and  feet, 
they  repair  to  the  cJiauka  for  their  last  meal.  This  is 
dispatclied  in  silence ;  then  they  go  out  and  smoke  and 
talk  for  some  time  longer. 

The  range  of  conversational  topics  is  limited,  and 
relates  chiefly  to  business,  the  prospects  of  the  weather 
and  crops,  or  to  neighborly  gossip.  "Sometimes,  some 
one  will  entertain  the  company  with  marvelous  tales  and 
exploits  of  bygone  heroes,  which  are  eagerly  swallowed 
and  readily  believed.  The  aged  patriarch  of  the  family, 
who  sits  propped  up  in  a  comfortable  corner,  claims  the 
right  which  age  and  experience  are  supposed  to  give,  to 
tax  the  credulity  of  the  company  to  the  utmost.  In  his 
presence,  all  must  be  respectfully  silent,  for  he  would 
instantly  and  severely  rebuke  even  a  gesture  of  dissent. 
Indeed,  in  these  social  interludes,  he  is  the  presiding 
autocrat,  and  he  waves  his  sceptre  with  stern  authority. 
The  juniors  listen  with  open-mouthed  amazement;  they 
have  not  in  their  experience  realized  the  marvels  which 
he  narrates, — nor,  somehow,  can  they  square  these  recitals 
with  their  ideas  of /r^.y^;;^  possibilities, — but  what  matters 
that, — has  not  the  age  pitiably  deteriorated,  so  that  the 
actuals  of  a  bygone  age  are  beyond  the  possibles  of  the 
present  ? 

The  women  enter  the  cJiaiika  when  their  lords  have 
left,  and  partake  of  what  may  remain  with  the  modest  con^ 
sciousness  of  intrinsic  inferiority.      The  plates  are  then 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  I45 

rinsed  out,  and  the  family  retire  for  the  night,  commonly 
near  midnight 

This  ordinary  routine  is,  of  course,  often  broken  in 
upon,  and  enlivened  with  incidents,  of  a  more  or  less 
stirring  kind.  For  example  :  the  family  we  have  selected 
for  an  illustration,  expects  a  visit  from  the  household 
Guru^  or  religious  teacher.  All  families  have  such  an 
•attendant,  and  his  visits  are  stated  epochs  in  their  history, 
— pleasant  or  otherwise,  as  his  manner  is  genial  or  acrid. 
The  Guru,  in  the  present  case,  is  a  sleek,  stout,  and 
good-humored  Brahman,  who  has  the  religious  care  of 
several  families  in  charge.  There  is  a  pleasant  expection 
when  his  footfall  is  upon  the  threshold,  and  males,  females 
and  children,  eagerly  look  for  him. 

Here  he  comes, — important,  self-complacent,  and  won- 
derfully good-humored,  for  a  worshipful  deity.  For 
apart  from  the  fact  of  his  being  a  Brahman,  his  relation 
to  the  family,  as  their  spiritual  guide,  places  them  under 
the  obligation  to  regard  him  as  no  whit  inferior  to  their 
guardian  deity.  Hence,  as  he  enters  the  door,  Mul  Raj 
and  Fateh  Singh,  salute  him  with  Pdldgan  Maharaj  (I 
touch  your  feet,  honored  sir)  ;  after  which  they,  followed 
by  all  the  women  and  children,  actually  prostrate  them- 
selves at  his  feet,  while  the  Brahman  deigns  to  put  his 
right  foot  upon  their  bowed  head,  saying  Jai-ho,  Jai-ho, 
(be  happy). 

He  is  then  invited  to  enter,  and  the  host  presents  him 
7  "^ 


146  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

with  tobacco  and  fire,  which  he  proceeds  to  smoke  in  his 
own  hooka, —  conversing,  meanwhile,  upon  the  ordinary 
topics  of  the  day.  It  is  not  uncommon  for  his  feet  to  be 
washed  by  one  of  the  family,  the  dirty  water  being  sipped 
all  round,  while  the  remainder  is  carefully  preserved. 
Flowers,  sweatmeats,  etc.,  are  also  offered,  while  he  mut- 
ters unintelligible  mantras  and  incantations,  which  are 
received  with  reverent  gratitude. 

Preparations  are  now  made  for  his  entertainment.  The 
host  provides  him  with  the  necessary  articles  from  the 
market,  on  a  bountiful  scale,  which  the  Brahman  prepares 
for  himself,  in  his  own  vessel.  Everything  is  provided 
for  his  comfort,  and  the  family  wait  on  him  with  servile 
reverence.  He  is  then  enriched  with  presents,  and  sent 
away  with  the  same  tokens  of  worshipful  regard. 

The  Hindu  shastras  prescribe  the  most  particular  and 
punctilious  regard  for  the  Guru,  or  spiritual  guide. 
The  disciple  must  promote  and  provide  in  the  fullest 
manner  for  the  welfare  of  his  teacher,  and  that  constantly ; 
if  he  injure  him,  he  will,  in  another  birth,  become  a  worm, 
feeding  on  ordure.  The  'guru's  son  and  grandson  are 
entitled  to  the  same  honor  as  himself  Whatever  be  his 
circumstances  or  character,  the  disciple  has  no  way  to 
happiness,  but  through  his  guru.  Hence,  the  religious 
Hindu  dreads  nothing  so  much  as  to  offend  his  spiritual 
guide,  even  to  the  close  of  his  life.  Mr.  Ward  relates 
the  case  of  one  of  these  Brahmans,  who  was  carried  to  the 


THE   HINDU   AT    HOME.  I47 

river  side  to  die.  There  he  was  visited  by  one  of  his  dis- 
ciples, who,  being  a  rich  man,  asked  the  dying  man  if  he 
could  do  anything  for  him.  The  guru  asked  him  for 
100,000  Rupees.  The  disciple  hesitated;  the  Brahman 
then  enquired  what  he  was  worth.  The  disciple  thought 
he  might  be  worth  that  amount,  though  it  was  not  all  in 
money.  The  guru  then  asked  him  to  give  his  children 
half  that  sum ;  this  was  surrendered.  "  Did  he  want 
anything  else?"  Why  no, — though  his  younger  son, 
then  present,  did  wish  for  a  pair  of  gold  bracelets,  very 
much  like  a  child  of  the  disciple,  standing  by,  had  on 
his  wrist.  These  were  forthwith  taken  off  and  transferred 
to  the  Brahman's  son.  "Anything  else?"  Well — since 
he  was  good  enough  to  ask,  perhaps  he  would  grant  a 
certain  piece  of  ground  in  Calcutta,  to  the  Guru's  son. 
This  piece  of  land  was  worth  20,000  Rs.,  but  it  was 
yielded  without  hesitation.  "  Had  the  Guru  any  fur- 
ther wish?"  Well,  it  was  really  too  bad,  but  would  the 
disciple  give  5,000  Rs.  toward  his  funeral  expenses. 
Very  good,  and  it  was  done.  The  next  morning,  the 
rapacious  old  Brahman  died ;  his  wife  was  burnt  with 
his  body,  and  thus,  according  to  the  shastras,  saved  his 
soul,  for  he  was  a  notoriously  bad  man,  while  the  disciple 
came  down  with  another  5,000  Rs.,  for  the  necessary 
expenses. 

Speaking  of  Brahmans,  reminds  us  of  the  woeful  mis- 
takes  which   writers,  conversant   only  with   the   Hindu 


148  THE    HINDU   AT    HOME. 

sacred  writings,  fall  into  as  to  the  austerely  severe  life 
which  these  men  are  supposed  to  lead.  One  such  writer 
remarks  that  they  ''  are  subjected  to  such  severe  duties 
that  (celibacy  excepted)  very  few  Roman  Catholic  monks 
can  bear  a  comparison  with  them.''  Now,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  sacred  manuals  lay  down  such  a  rigid  and 
complex  system  of  rules  for  the  conduct  of  a  Brahman's 
life,  from  the  time  he  receives  the  Janeo^  or  sacred  thread, 
at  the  age  of  eight  or  nine,  to  that  advanced  period  of  life 
when  he  is  sacredly  required  to  leave  all  secular  cares 
and  concerns,  and  retire  to  the  life  of  a  secluded  ascetic, 
that,  if  strictly  and  faithfully  observed, — supposing  it  were 
possible  to  do  so, — his  life  would  be,  indeed,  a  martyrdom 
to  a  punctilious  and  self-denying  ceremonialism.  But 
the  modern,  every-day  Brahman,  is  as  unlike  this  model 
as  his  ignorant  panegyrists  themselves.  With  a  mere 
gloss  of  extra  devotion  and  piety,  he  has  only  the  com- 
placency and  arrogance  of  his  pretensions.  He  trades 
and  traffics,  he  rogues  and  thieves,  he  eats  prodigiously ; 
he  does  not  spend  years  at  the  feet  of  a  Vedic  Gamaliel ; 
he  knows  very  little — if  at  all — of  his  sacred  writings, 
besides  a  few  unmeaning  formularies  for  pitja  ;  he  does 
not  retire  into  solitude,  in  advanced  age,  for  meditation 
and  prayer,  but  continues  to  the  close  of  life,  the  same 
self-righteous  and  sordid  sacerdotalist  that  he  ever 
was  ! 

But  stop  !  there  is  a  burst  of  unusual  joy  in  our  typical 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 49 

Hindu  home.     The  wife  of  Fateh    Singh   has   presented 
him  with  a  son,  and  there  is  mirth  and  rejoicing  and  con- 
gratulation.    In   expectation  of  the  event,  Ganesh   was 
worshipped  as   the   deity  of  domestic   prosperity,  and   a 
cocoanut,    betelnut     and    some    batdslias   placed    in   the 
expected   mother's  lap,  in   token  of  congratulation.     As 
the    momentous    event   approached,    hope,  surmise   and 
augury  were    all    anxiously  busy  to    determine   whether 
the  coming  child  should  be  an  auspicious  son  or  a  luck- 
less daughter.     The  Kshatriyas  were  the  tribe,  who,  in  for- 
mer  days,  destroyed  their  daughters,  and  the  practice   is 
not  wholly  extinct  yet.     The  anxiety  of  the  parents  and 
friends  may  thus  be  conceived, — as  also  their  exultation 
and  joy,  when    it  is    announced    that  the    babe   born,  is 
indeed,  a  son  !     Relations  and  friends  drop  in  and  pour 
their   congratulations    in    rich    libations.      The   women 
gather  together  and   express  their  joy  in  songs,  keeping 
time  upon  a  dhbl,  or  small  drum.     The  hero  of  the  hour 
is  washed,  smeared  plentifully  with   oil,  but  not   clothed 
until  the  sixth  day.     Superstitions  of  various   kinds  are 
practiced   toward   off  evil  influences, -especially,  to   keep 
off  the  dreaded  **  evil  eye." 

The  family  priest,  who  is  also  the  astrologer,  now 
comes  in  and  pretends  to  tell  the  child's  future,  its  age 
and  the  balance  of  happiness  and  misery  before  it. 
Of  course,  he  is  to  have  a  long  life,  and  is  to  be 
eminently  prosperous.     Ganesh  and  the  planets  are  then 


150  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

worshipped,  and  presents  are  distributed  to  Brahmans 
and  to  friends. 

On  the  third  day,  the  mother  is  assisted  into  the  yard 
with  the  child  in  her  lap.  With  her  face  to  the  sun,  she 
worships,  drops  a  few  grains  of  barley  and  retires.  On 
the  sixth  day,  there  is  an  important  ceremony.  An  arrow 
is  put  into  the  mother's  hand,  with  which,  bearing  the 
child  in  her  lap,  she  appears  in  the  yard ;  then,  as  she 
retires,  the  arrow  is  shot  upwards  toward  the  roof  The 
mother  bathes  on  this  day  and  is  supposed  to  be  purified, 
and  there  is  great  rejoicing  and  feasting.  It  is  believed 
that  the  child's  fortune  is  now  inscribed  upon  its  forehead 
by  a  deity.  On  the  tenth  or  eleventh  day,  there  is  a  sol- 
emn worship  of  Ganesh  and  the  planets,  and  then  the 
little  hero  is  solemnly  named  Kuar  Singh.  On  the 
twenty-seventh  day,  water  is  procured  from  twenty-seven 
wells,  and  leaves  of  twenty-seven  different  kinds  are  put 
into  a  small  earthen  jug  of  twenty-seven  tubes,  specially 
manufactured  for  the  ceremony.  Incense  having  been 
burned,  the  parents  with  the  child  sit  under  a  blanket 
awning,  while  the  Abater  from  the  earthen  jug  is  poured 
upon  the  blanket,  and  filtering  through  it,  wets  the  child 
and  its  parents.  They  then  bathe  in  separate  places  and 
change  their  clothes.  This  most  singular  ceremony  is 
evidently  one  of  final  purification,  although  its  exact 
import  is  not  known. 

Such  are  the   natal    ceremonies  commonly  practiced 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  I  5  I 

among  the  Hindus.  There  is  another  ceremony,  when, 
at  the  age  of  six  months,  the  child  first  tastes  other  food 
than  the  mother's  milk.  The  mother,  however,  is  in  no 
hurry  to  wean  the  child,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see 
a  boy,  three  years  old,  hanging  upon  the  mother's  breast. 
The  child  grows,  and  being  a  son,  and  the  first-born 
child,  is  petted  and  caressed  by  the  whole  family.  It  is 
literally  loaded  with  jewels.  Heavy  bracelets  of  gold,  a 
necklace  of  asJiarfis  or  gold  mohurs,  armlets  with  sun- 
dry charms  upon  the  arms,  silver  bells  and  rings  upon 
the  ankles,  with  a  chain  of  silver  upon  its  hips,  are  the 
usual  adornments  of  a  child,  born  in  these  circumstances. 
Of  clothing,  it  has  at  home  little  or  none.  It  is  this 
which  makes  Hindu  children  objects  of  criminal  cupidity 
to  the  wicked  and  designing.  It  is  quite  common  for 
children  with  jewels  on  their  persons,  to  be  lured  away 
from  their  friends,  at  viclas  or  fairs,  and  to  be  murdered 
for  the  sake  of  their  jewels.  Sometimes,  the  barbarity  is 
perpetrated  for  the  veriest  trifle.  Quite  lately,  a  poor 
girl,  eight  years  old,  who  had  jewels  to  the  amount  of 
only  four  Rupees  on  her  person,  was  decoyed  away  by  an 
old  woman,  scaling  grass  in  an  out-of-the-way  place. 
When  all  alone,  the  girl  was  thrown  down  and  brutally 
hacked  at  the  throat,  with  the  not  very  sharp  iron 
scraper,  until  believed  to  be  dead.  The  jewels  were 
taken  off  and  the  body  dragged  to  a  jackal's  den 
and  thrust  into  it.     Strangely  the  fresh  earth  stanched 


152  THE    HINDU   AT    HOME. 

the  blood,  and  in  a  few  hours  the  girl,  recovering  con- 
sciousness, was  able  to  drag  herself  along  to  a  village, 
where  she  related  her  story.  The  ruffianly  butcheress 
was  arrested  and  was  on  trial  for  her  life,  when  I  left 
India. 

The  boy  grows  up  and  begins  to  articulate.  This  is 
an  occasion  of  great  joy,  and  that  joy  reaches  its  culmina- 
tion when  the  young  prodigy  treats  its  father  and  grand- 
father to  a  full-mouthed  volley  of  filthy  abuse.  This  is 
the  signal  for  positive  jubilation;  the  parents  and  friends 
clap  their  hands  and  shout  for  joy ;  indeed,  their  delight 
quite  equals  the  satisfaction  with  which  I  have  seen 
parents  boasting  of  Christian  culture  applaud  the  tossing 
off,  without  choking,  of  the  first  glass  of  wine  by  their  chil- 
dren. The  little  Hindu  very  early  learns  to  puff  at  the 
hooka,  and  it  is  not  uncommon  to  see  him  swing  back 
and  forth  from  his  mother's  breast  to  his  pipe.  Caressed, 
petted  and  humored  by  every  one,  if  little  Kuar  Singh 
does  not  follow  in  the  long  line  of  domestic  tyrants 
known  as  "  spoiled  children,"  it  will  certainly  not  be 
through  neglect  of  pains  in  his  early  education ! 

Dark  threads  mingle  with  the  bright  in  weaving,  the 
chequered  web  of  the  Hindu  home  as  of  any  other,  and 
there  is  sorrow  and  mourning  in  our  typical  household. 
What  is  the  matter  ?  Messengers  have  arrived  from  the 
Sasiirdr  (husband's  father's  house)  of  Rukminee,  the 
eight  year  old  sister,  with  sorrovv'ful  news.    Her  boy  hus- 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  153 

band  is  no  more !  Stricken  with  cholera  in  its  most 
virulent  form,  in  a  few  hours  disease  culminated  in  de^th. 
As  the  village  in  which  he  resides  is  more  than  a  hun- 
dred miles  distant,  the  funeral  ceremonies  have  long 
since  been  performed.  It  was  impossible  to  communi- 
cate the  sad  intelligence  in  time  to  allow  of  the  attend- 
ance of  any  of  Mul  Raj's  household,  even  if  this  were 
otherwise  possible. 

And  so  Rukminee  is  a  widow,  without  being  a  wife  ! 
A  widow  at  eight !  Strange,  ridiculously  strange,  yet 
solemnly  sad.  But  how  ?  Surely,  there  could  be  no 
room  for  much,  if  indeed  any,  personal  attachment 
between  two  mere  children  who  saw  each  other  for  a  few 
hours  but  once  in  their  lives?  Ah!  no  ;  that  is  not  the 
reason  for  the  wailincf  and  the  lamentation  which  resound 
through  the  bereaved  household.  There  is  really  little 
love  lost  in  the  bereavement,  nor  had  the  household  any 
pecuniary  or  other  expectations  which  have  now  been 
blighted.  Whence,  then,  this  burst  of  grief,  this  desola- 
tion of  woe?  Ah,  that  crushing  word,  widaiv /  Sad 
enough  anywhere,  to  the  Hindu  it  means  the  extinguish- 
ment of  joy  and  hope  and  happiness.  It  is  not  merely 
an  eclipse,  it  is  total  and  perpetual  darkness.  Young  as 
the  widow  might  be, — a  child  indeed, — she  may  never, 
in  the  higher  castes,  be  joined  to  another  man.  More 
than  this,  her  position  in  the  household  is  degraded  and 

humiliating  to  the  last  degree.     The  calamity  which  has 
7* 


154  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

befallen  her  is  believed  to  be  a  just  retribution  for  serious 
misdeeds  in  a  previous  birth, — hence  she  is  shunned  and 
spurned  even  by  her  own  relatives  as  morally  plague- 
smitten.  From  the  lofty  position  of  a  cherished  wife, 
she  now  descends  to  the  dark  dungeon  of  social  and 
moral  ostracism,  and  in  this  dungeon  there  glimmers  not 
a  ray  of  hope ;  her  future  life  is  a  long  course  of  unmiti- 
gated misery. 

External  conditions  harmonize  grimly  with  the' 
actual  facts.  The  long  tresses  of  hair, — a  woman's 
pride,  are  shorn  without  mercy  ;  the  jewellery  and  other 
ornaments  in  which  she  was  bedecked  while  a  wife,  are  all 
taken  away,  the  gaily  colored  cJnmri  in  which  she  was 
arrayed  is  exchanged  for  sombre  habiliments, — nor  may 
she  ever  attire  herself  attractively  again.  The  darkest 
corner  of  the  house  becomes  her  retreat,  the  most 
servile  service  her  employment.  Thus  bereaved  of  hope 
and  stripped  of  all  that  made  life  bright  and  joyful,  she 
drags  on  her  days  in  a  living  entombment  until  death 
comes  to  the  rescue;  or  worse, — she  breaks  through  the 
bars  of  this  sepulchre  to  plunge  into  the  gaping  jaws  of 
a  living  perdition.  For  beneath  the  dungeon  of  enforced 
widowhood,  smoke  the  fires  of  a  relentless  Gehenna,  and 
many  a  poor  woman,  branded  an  outcast  by  this  deadly 
custom,  becomes  a  prey  to  the  crafty  priest  or  the 
designing  Brahman.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Hindu 
widow    rushed  from  such   a  fate  to  the  sati  fire,  when 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 55 

that  fire  promised  not  only  quick  deliverance  from  the 
woes  of  widowhood,  but  certain  admission  for  her  hus- 
band and  herself  into  the  highest  heaven?  The  British 
Government  have  stopped  the  crackling  of  the  sati  fire, 
but  the  dungeon  gates  of  enforced  widowhood  still  creak 
upon  their  rusted  hinges,  while  below  the  Gehenna  of 
moral  ruin  smokes  and  burns  consuming  its  victims,  body 
and  soul,  in  swift  destruction.  There  are  intelligent 
Hindus  to-day  who  seriously  deprecate  the  action  of 
the  British  Government,  because  it  deprives  the  Hindu 
w  idow  of  a  quick,  and  to  her,  honorable,  release  from  her 
misery  and  degradation ;  while  they  take  no  measures  to 
save  her  from  the  protracted  tortures  of  enforced  widow- 
hood. 

What  is  the  prolific  parent  of  all  this  misery?  The 
pernicious  system  of  child  marriage  undoubtedly.  A 
girl  from  the  time  she  is  able  to  speak  or  think,  is  edu- 
cated  to  think  of  marriage  as  her  highest,  her  only  end 
in  life.  She  cannot  conceive  of  life  without  it ;  it  is  the 
sunimum  bonuin  of  her  earthly  existence.  Yet  this  all 
important  event  is  one  of  mere  childish  curiosity  and 
interest  to  her.  She  is  utterly  incapable  of  comprehend- 
ing its  solemn  import,  nor  has  she  any  right  of  judgment 
or  opinion  in  an  event  which  concerns  all  her  future  life. 
Married  she  must  be  and  that  as  quickly  as  possible ; 
and  if  perchance  her  matrimonial  engagement  is  not  satis- 
factorily and  speedily  adjusted,  her  parents  regard  her  as 


156  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

a  luckless  encumbrance,  and  do  not  fail  to  make  her  feel 
her  position  keenly. 

A  wail  from  twenty  millions  of  Hindu  widows — worse 
than  dead — ^pours  its  requiem  of  desolation  and  sorrow 
in  the  ear  of  Christendom,  while  trembling  swarthy 
hands  appear  above  the  billows  of  moral  and  social  death, 
supplicating  help,  ere  they  sink  forever  in  the  swirling 
vortex.  Who  v/ill  hear  and  hasten  to  the  rescue  ?  If  a 
signal  of  distress  be  made  from  yon  rocky  shoal,  if  but  a 
single  hand  be  seen  uplifted  to  succour  help,  a  hundred 
brawny  arms  would  pull  through  the  raging  surf  at  emi- 
nent hazard  of  life,  rather  than  that  endangered  one 
should  sink  unsuccoured.  Yet  here  is  a  cry  from  help- 
less millions  for  succour  !  Oh !  let  it  not  be  lost  in  faint 
and  yet  fainter  echoes,  and  the  hands  that  now  implore 
your  Christian  help  be  locked  in  the  ghastly  grip  of 
moral  and  eternal  death. 

What  is  the  remedy  for  this  crushing,  gigantic  evil  ? 
The  remedy  must  necessarily  be  two-fold, — destructive 
and  constructive.  Legislation,  state  legislation,  arm-in-arm 
with  a  regenerated  public  sentiment,  must  hew  this  mam- 
moth custom  to  the  ground.  Yea,  the  axe  is  already  laid 
at  the  root  of  the  deadly  Upas  tree,  and  India  is  awaken- 
ing to  the  evils  of  this  horrible  and  unnatural  supersti- 
tion. But  when  the  tree  falls,  it  will  be  with  a  reverbera- 
tion that  will  shake  and  rend  Hindu  society  to  its  founda- 
tion.    That    society  must   then  be   reconstructed    upon 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 57 

another  model, — the  model  of  Christian  grace  and  culture, 
or  the  last  end  will  be  worse  than  the  first.  It  is  this 
constructive  work  w^hich  calls  for  the  noble  and  devoted 
followers  of  the  Phebes  and  Priscillas  and  Julias  of 
apostolic  times.  Thank  God  for  those  who  have  gone 
forth  and  are  even  now  in  the  van  of  the  fight ;  hold  up 
their  hands,  ye  Christian  men  and  women  of  America,  with 
your  prayers  and  sympathies,  and  make  haste  to  reinforce 
their  all  too  slender  ranks,  lest  they  utterly  faint  in  the 
gathering  battle. 

But  we  must  return  to  the  home  life  of  our  typical 
Hindu.  A  religion  so  objectiv^e  and  sensuous  as  that  of 
the  Hindus  could  not  subsist  without  constantly  feeding 
the  popular  craving  for  the  religiously  sensational.  Hence 
their  numerous  tcJiwdrs,  or  feast  days,  with  their  attend- 
ant Melas,  or  religio-festive  gatherings.  These  are 
indeed  legion,  and  differ  with  race,  dialect  and  locality. 
Each  god  has  its  celebration, — the  favored  ones  claiming 
conspicuous  attention  and  homage.  The  different  seasons 
again  are  greeted  with  special  demonstrations,  and  are 
made  occasions  of  particular  jubilation  and  religious  cele- 
bration. A  favorite  teJiivdr  of  the  Hindus  is  the  Holi 
Festival,  held  at  the  spring-tide  of  the  year.  At  this 
season,  when  the  rigors  of  winter  are  yielding  to  the 
genial  warmth  of  spring-dawn,  when  the  trees  are  putting 
on  their  fresh  mantle  of  green,  and  the  flowers  are  burst- 
ing into  bloom  and  the  birds  into  song, — when  the  wav- 


158  THE    HINDU   AT    HOME. 

ing  corn-fields  are  shaking  their  tassels  of  gold  for  the 
reapers  scythe,  the  Hindu  prepares  for  the  gay  carnival 
of  the  Holi  festival.  Of  course,  there  are  signs  and 
sounds  of  joyous  preparation  in  our  Hindu  household. 
The  children  are  arrayed  in  their  best, — even  the  seniors 
are  forward  with  gayest  habiliments.  A  large  shamcanah 
or  canvas  pavilion  is  reared  in  front  of  the  house  for  a 
dancing  party,  and  is  illuminated  with  glass  burners  and 
chandeliers. 

The  festival  arrives,  and  the  days  pass  joyfully  in 
promenading  the  .city  streets,  where  the  children  are 
indulged  with  sweets,  toys  and  playthings,  visiting  and 
receiving  visits,  and  other  merriments.  The  nights  are 
spent  at  the  nautches,  or  dancing  parties,  which  are  main- 
tained often  at  considerable  expense. 

The  Hindu's  views  on  dancing  are  antipodal  to  the 
Europeans.  No  respectable  Hindu  would  dream  of  being 
associated  with  this  exercise,  save  as  a  spectator,  and  as 
for  his  wife,  daughter  and  sister  figuring  in  the  "graceful 
maze,"  —  why  the  idea  is  simply  inconceivable.  The 
dancing  girls  are  a  distinct  class  and  usually  of  avowedly 
irregular  life.  They  are  hired,  sometimes  at  considerable 
expense,  for  these  occasional  performances.  Not  unfre- 
quently,  these  girls  are  notably  pretty  and  graceful  in 
person  ;  some  are  possessed  of  singular  beauty.  They  are 
not  only  dancers  but  singers,  and  their  quality  and  value 
are  judged  of  by  their  looks,  and  their  vocal  and  dancing 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  I59 

ability.  Gaily  arrayed  in  silks  and  tinsel,  with  tinkling 
bells  at  the  feet,  usually  two  girls  perform  at  the  same 
time,  singing  to  the  accompaniment  of  violins  and  gui- 
tars, while  the  dJiolak  not  only  keeps  time,  but  gives 
expression  to  the  whole.  The  dancing  is  s'o  unlike  the 
European  notion  of  the  movements  of  the  **  light  fantas- 
tic toe,"  that  no  description  can  convey  a  just  idea  of  the 
performance.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  it  consists  as  much 
of  postures  and  attitudes  and  gestures,  as  of  movements 
and  gyrations;  the  object  being  to  act  out  the  most 
wanton  emotions  which  a  lawless  passion  can  produce. 
Altogether,  the  performance  is  impure  and  demoralizing; 
and  is  oftentimes  the  theatre  of  the  most  indecorous 
scenes.  At  the  Holi  festival  such  dancing  parties  abound  ; 
huge  scaffoldings  are  erected  upon  which  taifas  of  danc- 
ing girls  perform  in  view  of  multitudes ;  while  pleasure 
boats  glide  up  and  down  the  river  with  dancing  parties 
in  full  swing. 

But  this  is  not  the  worst  feature  of  this  carnival.  Inter- 
twined with  the  joyful  celebration  of  the  spring  harvest, 
is  the  commemoration  of  the  lewd  and  wanton  sportings 
of  the  popular  god  Krishna,  and  right  worthily  are  the 
doings  of  this  deified  debauchee  celebrated.  The  vilest 
obscenities  are  publicly  sung  in  the  streets,  and  the  most 
indecent  signs  and  gestures  indulged  in  without  restraint 
or  shame.  Respectable  women  dare  not  pass  through 
the   streets.     Indeed,  until   lately  even  European  ladies 


l60  THE    HINDU   AT    HOME. 

were  assaulted  with  the  most  ribald  and  obscene  effusions. 
The  last  day  or  two  of  this  festival  are  a  perfect  Baccha- 
nalian Saturnalia.  A  red  pigment  with  powdered  talc  are 
cast  upon  every  passer  by,  and  squirted  in  a  liquid  state 
upon  the  clothes  and  person.  To  see  huge  gangs  of  men 
reeling  along,  mad  with  the  frenzy  of  voluptuous  revelry, 
some  indeed  drunk  with  intoxicating  drink ;  all  drenched, 
face,  hands  and  clothes,  by  the  vile  dye, — singing  aloud 
the  most  obscene  ribaldries, — presents  a  scene  as  like 
Pandemonium  as  it  is  possible  to  behold  in  this  world. 
And  yet  this  is  the  most  joyous  Hindu  tehzudr,  and  is 
religiously  observed  as,  the  most  fitting  and  acceptable 
commemoration  of  the  amorous  exploits  of  Krishna,  the 
popular  incarnation  of  Vishnu  ! 

The  festival  has  come  and  gone,  andMul  Raj's  house- 
hold has  returned  to  the  prose  of  every-day  life.  There 
is,  however,  a  dark  shadow  upon  the  threshold.  The 
old  patriarch,  the  father  of  Mul  Raj  and  Fateh  Singh,  is 
sick,  and  it  is  evident  that  he  must  die.  There  is  no 
extraordinary  solicitude  evident  on  this  account,  however; 
the  sons  regard  the  impending  event  as  a  kind  of  necessity, 
preordained  and  inevitable.  The  old  man  himself,  now 
very  feeble,  is  scarcely  more  concerned.  Death  is  merely 
the  gate  through  which  the  soul  passes  from  one  organ- 
ism to  another,  and  therefore  awakens  but  little  anxiety 
or  concern,  especially  in  the  case  of  the  aged  and  infirm. 

Poor   old    man,    he   grows    feebler   and    feebler,   and 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  l6l 

his  sons  bear  him  out  filially  to  the  bank  of  the  sacred 
Ganga  to  die.  There  he  is  laid  upon  a  stretcher,  under 
an  awning  to  shield  him  fi-om  the  scorching  sun,  while 
the  Ganga  water  is  poured  into  his  mouth,  with  some 
leaves  of  the  sacred  Titlshi,  and  the  image  of  some  god 
is  laid  on  his  breast.  Soon  the  **  vital  spark  "  expires  and 
the  funeral  rites  begin.  Mul  Raj,  as  the  eldest  son,  is 
the  person  upon  whom  devolves  the  duty  of  conducting 
these  ceremonies.  He  makes  a  ball  of  barley-dough  and 
puts  it  into  the  right  hand  of  the  corpse.  This  is  for  the 
present  and  immediate  sustenance  of  the  disembodied  soul 
or  prcta.  The  body  is  then  wound  in  some  clean  linen, 
placed  on  a  bamboo  bier,  and  carried  by  four  men  to  the 
burning  place  beside  the  river,  while  the  friends  and  rela- 
tives follow,  crying  ''Rama,  Rama,  SatJiai!''  (Ram  is  true). 
Arrived  at  the  burning^/^^/,the  corpse  is  laid  down,  with 
its  feet  to  the  south.  It  is  now  bathed,  and  some  gold  and 
clarified  butter  having  been  put  in  the  mouth,  it  is  placed 
upon  the  funeral  pile.  Mul  Raj  now  has  his  head  and 
face  shaved,  all  save  the  single  lock  upon  his  head,  and 
sets  fire  to  the  pile.  When  the  body  is  about  half  con- 
sumed, some  ghee  is  poured  on  the  head,  which  is  then 
deliberately  shattered  with  bamboos.  The  fire  is  quenched 
with  the  Ganga  water,  and  the  body  is  thrown  into  the 
river.  After  some  trifling  ceremonies,  the  funeral  party 
bathe,  chew  the  bitter  leaves  of  the  Neem,  and  return 
home. 


1 62  THE    HINDU   AT    HOME. 

Mul  Raj  must  sleep  on  the  ground  and  touch  no  one 
in  the  family  for  eleven  days,  while  the  entire  household 
must  live  for  the  same  period  on  austere  fare.  Then  fol- 
low the  important  rites  called  Srdddhas,  the  purport  of 
which  will  be  understood  by  a  little  explanation.  When 
a  man  dies,  his  gross  body  is  burned,  and,  according  to 
the  Hindu  belief,  his  soul  remains  hovering  near  the 
burning  ground,  longing  to  depart,  but  unable  to  do  so 
for  want  of  a  suitable  vehicle  or  body.  In  this  condition 
it  is  a  restless  and  foul  ghost ;  and  if  left  thus  would 
wander  to  and  fro  disposed  to  avenge  itself  by  malignant 
acts  upon  all  living  creatures.  The  object  of  the  Sradd- 
has  is  to  supply  this  restless  and  unhappy  ghost  with  a  suit- 
able body  in  which  it  can  pass  on  to  its  next  destination. 

Hence  Mid  Raj\  as  the  eldest  son  and  principal 
mourner,  offers  to  the  preta,  or  spirit,  a  pinda,  or  round 
ball  of  barley-flour,  with  libations  of  water,  daily,  from 
the  first  day  after  the  funeral  till  the  tenth.  These  are 
believed  to  contribute  in  framing  the  desired  vehicle  or 
body.  On  the  tenth  day,  he  takes  all  these  to  the  river, 
and  cooking  some  milk  and  rice,  rolls  all  up  in  balls,  and 
with  libations  of  milk  and  water,  offers  all  with  incense 
to  the  spirit,  which,  having  now  received  a  complete 
envelopment,  becomes  a  pitri,  and  is  practically  wor- 
shipped by  the  family. 

On  the  eleventh  day,  the  Maha  Brahman,  who  has 
control  of  funeral  rites,  is  invited  to  the  house.     Mul 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.   ^  163 

Raj  now  washes  his  feet,  puts  a  mark  upon  his  forehead, 
and  makes  a  variety  of  presents  to  the  Brahman,  after 
which  he  once  more  mingles  with  his  friends  and  relatives. 
The  ceremony  of  offering  libations  of  food  to  deceased 
ancestors  is,  however,  continued  at  stated  intervals,  so  as 
to  facilitate  their  passing  without  let  or  hindrance  upon 
their  onward  way,  through  the  various  stages  of  the  inter- 
minable passage  of  transmigration. 

The  days  pass,  and  the  revolving  seasons  bring  their 
appointed  festive  days  of  more  or  less  importance.  The 
next  cherished  festival  is  the  Rdui  lila  celebration,  which 
usually  takes  place  in  the  month  of  October.  It  is 
enacted  with  representations  of  the  exploits  of  Rama 
Chandra,  the  king  of  Ayodhya.  The  abduction  of  Sita, 
Rama's  wife,  by  Ravana,  the  giant  king  of  Lanka  (Ceylon), 
the  assault  of  Rama,  wherein  he  is  aided  by  Hanunidn^ 
the  monkey  general,  the  ultimate  victory  of  Rama  and 
the  destruction  of  Ravana,  are  ^all  set  forth  in  a  series  of 
coarse  dramatic  representations,  extending  over  several 
days,  and  terminating  with  the  blowing  up  of  Ravana. 
Each  city  has  its  representation, — the  larger  ones,  three  or 
four.  They  are  attended  by  multitudes  of  both  old  and 
young,  as  the  centre  of  a  vast  amount  of  fun  and  merry- 
making. Sweetmeat  and  toy-venders  spread  their  allure- 
ments for  the  young,  while  stalls  and  booths  of  finery  and 
tinsel  attract  the  women. 

Almost  cotemporaneously,  with   the   Ram  lila,  in  the 


164  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

northern  provinces,  is  the  Diirga  prija,  or  worship  of 
Dunja.  in  lower  Bencral.  It  is  intended  to  commemorate 
the  victory  of  the  sanguinary  Durga,  over  the  buffalo- 
hea.ded  demon,  MaJiislidsJiar.  Her  image  is  worshipped 
with  much  pomp,  for  nine  days,  and  then  cast  into  the 
water.  The  tenth  day  is  called  Dasahara.  Close  upon 
the  heel  of  the  Rcini  lila,  follows  the  Devdli  festival,  in 
honor  of  Vishnu's  wife,  Lakshini,  and  Shiva's  wife, 
Parvati.  It  is  to  an  outsider,  the  most  sensible  of  the 
Hindu  festivals.  Every  house  is  cleaned  up,  and  if  pos- 
sible whitewashed  and  otherwise  decorated,  and  in  the 
night,  each  habitation  is  illuminated  according  to  the 
means  of  the  owner.  Some  are  splendidly  lit  up,  while 
the  poorest  will  set  out  a  few  oil  lamps.  Earthen 
toys  and  sweatmeats,  moulded  in  the  form  of  beasts  and 
birds,  abound,  and  altogether  the  bazaar  puts  on  its 
brightest  gala  dress.  But  even  this  cheerful  and  glitter- 
ing festival  has  its  dark  side,  for  the  Devdli  night  is  given 
up  to  systematic  and  universal  gambling.  This  is  not  only 
a  stimulating  pastime,  but  a  religious  requirement.  While,- 
therefore,  the  orthodox  gamble  religiously,  the  ragged 
liberals  take  one  step  further,  and  devote  the  night  to 
thieving  and  house-breaking.  Hence,  on  Devali  night, 
notwithstanding  its  illumination  and  brightness,  special 
vigilance  must  be  maintained  against  knaves  and  rogues 
of  all  degrees,  from  the  daring  burglar  to  the  juvenile 
pick-pocket. 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  165 

But  to  return  to  our  Hindu  home: — Chamcli,  the 
daughter  of  Mul  Raj  is  now  over  seven  years  old,  and 
her  parents  are  anxiously  sohcitous  for  an  early  and 
advantageous  "  settlement  "  for  her.  They  regard  this 
as  their  most  pressing  and  sacred  duty,  the  neglect  of 
which  would  expose  them  to  ruinous  disgrace.  Hence, 
serious  conference  is  held  amonc:  the  members  of  the 
household  and  their  immediate  friends,  resulting  in  the 
nomination  of  an  "  eligible  candidate  "  for  matrimonial 
honors  in  the  person  of  a  bright  boy  of  nine,  named 
Jdnki,  the  son  of  respectable  and  well-to-do  .Kshatriyas, 
resident  in  the  same  city.  The  match  appearing  in  every 
way  desirable  and  suitable,  the  horoscope  of  the  young 
couple  is  .compared, — of  course,  with  very  gratifying 
results.  It  is  remarkable  how  accommodating  domestic 
astrology  is  in  such  cases,  and  with  vvhat  good  nature 
the  stars  combine  to  predict  a  prosperous  future  for  those 
intending  to  mate. 

And  now  the  initiative  ceremony,  that  oi  the  Tika, 
takes  place.  Mul  Raj,  despatches  the  family  priest  and 
barber  with  a  brass  dish,  a  cocoanut  and  present  in  money 
and  jewels,  to  the  father  of  the  bridegroom  elect.  They 
are  received  with  much  respect  by  old  Jawahir  Sing,  who 
invites  all  his  friends  and  relations  to  meet  the  messen- 
gers ;  and  in  the  presence  of  all,  they  plant  the  tika,  or 
marriage  dot  upon  the  forehead  of  the  bridegroom  elect. 
The  boy's  father  presents  alms  to  the   Brahmans,  sweet- 


1 66  THE    HINDU   AT    HOME. 

meats  and  balls  of  cocoanuts  to  his  friends ;  and  after 
cordially  entertaining  the  visitors  from  the  bride's  home, 
dismisses  them  with  presents  of  money  and  clothes. 

They  bring  a  favorable,  nay  flattering  account  of  their 
reception  to  Mul  Raj,  who  next  calls  for  the  lagan  from 
the  family  priest.  The  lagan  is  a  calendar  of  auspicious 
dates  for  the  performance  of  the  ceremonies  which  are  to 
follow.  A  copy  of  this  programme  of  dates  is  rolled  up 
with  a  couple  of  betel-nuts,  some  turmeric,  a  little  dry 
rice  and  two  pice,  and  tied  with  yellow  thread ;  this 
packet  is  sent  to  Jawahir  Sing  by  the  hand  of  the  family 
barber,  with  a  silver  coin  and  some  barley.  On  receipt 
of  this,  the  old  man  prepares  to  act  upon  the  directions 
of  the  calendar, — despatching  invitations  to  his  relatives 
and  friends. 

At  length  the  auspicious  day  arrives.  Busy,  joyous 
and  costly  preparations  are  made  in  the  home  of  the 
bride.  The  whole  house  is  cleansed,  and  whitewashed 
and  decorated.  A  pavilion  is  pitched  outside  at  some 
distance  from  the  entrance,  where  the  bridal  party  are  to 
be  entertained.  The  necessary  provisions  for  the  regale- 
ment of  the  guests  are  made  on  a  scale  not  only  unstinted 
but  lavish,  while  7tautches,  or  dancing  parties,  and  Bharids 
or  buffoons,  are  engaged  for  their  entertainment.  In  the 
centre  of  the  inner  courtyard,  a  small  shed,  called  the 
maraya,  is  erected  upon  five  posts,  one  of  which  is  in  the 
centre :  this  is  for  the  immediate  marriage  ceremonies. 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 67 

Of  course,  all  the  family  are  arrayed  in  gay  and  glit- 
tering habiliments, — all  save  the  child-widow,  Riikmiyiee. 
The  little  bride,  who  is  jubilant  in  expectation  of  the 
great  fun  before  her,  is  arrayed  in  a  rich  robe  of  gay 
colors,  with  a  chaddar  drawn  over  her  youthful  face.  Of 
course,  she  is  plentifully  adorned  with  jewels  and  tinsel. 
The  whole  household  indeed  is  suitably  bedecked  to 
receive  the  bridal  party  expected  at  night. 

Hark  !  the  silence  is  suddenly  broken  by  the  braying 
of  trumpets,  and  the  roll  of  drums.  Then  there  bursts 
upon  the  darkness  the  gleam  of  light  from  scores  of 
torches.  The  bardty  or  marriage  procession  is  at  hand  ! 
Preceded  by  loud  and  clashing  music,  and  taifas  of 
7iautchcs  upon  scaffolding  borne  upon  men's  shoulders,  a 
long  procession  of  elephants,  camels,  horses,  bahlis  and 
raths  follow,  bearing  the  bridegroom,  his  relations,  friends 
and  supporters. 

In  the  middle  of  the  procession  is  the  youthful  bride- 
groom, arrayed  in  a  long  flowing  robe  reaching  to  his 
feet,  with  a  high  cupola-like  hat  glistening  with  tinsel. 
He  is  literally  weighed  down  with  garlands  of  the  odor- 
ous beyla,  and  is  mounted  upon  a  heavy,  but  richly-capari- 
soned horse.  The  procession  is  closed  by  hundreds  of 
unwashed,  staring  idlers,  who  follow  upon  the  heels  of 
every  loud  demonstration  for  the  fun  of  the  thing. 

As  the  bardt  nears  the  bride's  house,  the  trumpets 
bray  louder,  the  drums  roll  more  vociferously,  the  torches 


l68  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

flash  higher,  while  muskets  and  fireworks  are  let  off  with 
hiss  and  bang,  so  as  to  make  every  variety  of  noise  and 
as  much  of  it  as  possible.  This  is  the  very  crisis  of  the 
demonstration,  and  enthusiasm  rises  to  its  utmost  pitch 
in  the  endeavor  to  make  a  striking  thing  of  it.  That 
useful  functionary,  the  family  barber,  is  sent  on  ahead 
with  offerings. 

And  now  the  procession  being  at  the  door,  Mul  Raj 
and  Fateh  Singh,  with  their  friends  and  kindred,  come 
forth  to  greet  it.  At  the  same  time,  the  entrance  door 
is  plastered  with  that  sacred  unguent — cow-dung, — and 
worship  is  offered  to  Ganesh  and  other  deities.  Mul 
Raj  touches  the  feet  of  the  young  bridegroom,  as  a  token 
of  respect,  puts  a  mark  upon  his  forehead,  and  makes 
costly  presents  of  money,  clothes  and  jewels.  The  bardt 
now  retires  to  the  pavilion  pitched  outside,  where  it  is 
entertained  v/ith  natitchcs,  bJidnds,  etc.  Here  the  bride's 
young  brother  washes  the  feet  of  the  bridegroom  and  of 
his  brother,  while  sherbet,  a  cool  beverage,  is  presented 
to  them  and  their  friends. 

When  the  auspicious  moment  arrives,  the  bridegroom 
and  his  friends  are  invited  into  the  inner  courtyard,  where 
the  temporary  shed  has  been  erected.  The  bridegroom's 
feet  are  again  washed,  after  which  he  gets  something  to 
eat.  Mul  Raj,  after  bestowing  alms,  now  brings  two 
pieces  of  yellow  linen  ;  with  one  of  these  the  girl  covers 
herself,  the  other  is  joined  to  the  bridegroom's  robe.     A 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 69 

palm  plume,  having'  touched  an  image  of  Ganesh,  is 
bound  to  the  bride's  head.  The  priests  on  both  sides 
now  solemnly  bless  the  bride  and  bridegroom,  after  which 
they  (the  priests)  receive  presents. 

The  hand  of  the  bride  is  now  put  into  the  right  hand     . 
of  the  bridegroom  after  some   curious   ceremonies,  and 
the  upper  garments  of  both  being  knotted  together,  they 
are    made  to  sit  together,  the  bride  to  the   right  of  the 
bridegroom  with  her  face  to  the  east. 

A  small  altar  is  built  between  the  centre  post  of  the 
shed  and  the  bride  and  bridegroom,  upon  which  incense 
is  burned,  and  piija  offered  to  the  gods.  They  are  then 
covered  over  for  a  few  minutes  with  a  sheet,  \yhile  a  few 
trifling  ceremonies  are  gone  through.  Then  Mul  Raj 
puts  his  daughter's  hand  into  Janki's,  and  they  walk 
round  the  altar  and  the  centre  post  several  times.  This 
ceremony,  which  is  called  the  Chounri,  completes  the 
marriage  bond. 

Pledges  of  mutual  love  and  fidelity  are  then  exchanged, 
which  Vishnu,  fire  and  the  Brahmans  are  solemly  invoked 
to  attest.  Thus  the  bridegroom  of  nine  and  the  bride  of 
seven  undertake  the  most  sacred  obligations  without  any 
conception  of  their  weight  or  import.  The  bridegroom 
then  sprinkles  some  water  upon  the  bride's  head,  and 
both  bow  before  the  sun  in  worship.  After  this  the  bride- 
groom places  his  hand  upon  the  bride's  heart,  while  the 
priests  put  marks  upon  the  foreheads  of  both,  and  finally 
8 


I/O  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

blessing  them,  receive  their  dues.  After  receiving  the 
presents  of  the  bride's  mother  and  the  other  ladies,  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  go  out  into  the  pavilion  where  the 
barat  is  being  entertained.  For  two  or  three  days,  the 
marriage  procession  is  feasted,  then  respectfully  dis- 
missed. 

Little  Chaineli  and  her  boy  husband  go  with  the  barat. 
She  is  accompanied  by  her  little  brother  and  some  other 
female  relatives, — nevertheless  she  weeps  bitterly  as  she 
leaves  for  the  first  time  the  home  of  her  childhood.  In 
a  palanquin,  the  married  couple  are  conveyed  to  their 
new  home  with  the  singing  of  gay  nuptial  songs  by  the 
women  friends.  Entering  the  door,  after  some  supersti- 
tious ceremonies  to  keep  off  evil  influence, /?/;V?  is  per- 
formed, and  then  their  knot  is  loosened. 

After  a  few  days,  Chameli  returns  to  her  parental  home, 
where  she  stays  until  five  years  have  passed.  Then  a 
simple  ceremony,  called  the  gaiina  is  performed,  and  she 
is  finally  sent  to  her  new  home,  and  takes  up  the  duties 
of  a  gihrast,  in  subjection  to  the  matrons  of  her  husband's 
household, — occasionally  returning  to  her  parents,  but 
for  short  periods  only. 

Meanwhile  life  moves  on  in  its  appointed  groove. 
Months,  seasons,  years  go  by ;  successes  and  reverses 
alternate ;  the  sun  of  life  glides  noiselessly  toward  the 
horizon,  while  the  dark  cloud  of  old  age  and  bodily 
infirmity  streak   the   sky.      Even    Hindu    stolidity   and 


THE    HINDU   AT    HOME.  I7I 

insensibility  cannot  wholly  smother  the  voice  of  the  soul 
in  its  anxious  clamorings  with  regard  to  the  future.  Mul 
Raj  and  Fateh  Singh  are  becoming  old  men  ;  those  who 
once  were  children  are  in  the  prime  of  life,  while  there 
are  childish  voices  and  pattering  of  little  feet  in  the  old 
house  that  a  few  years  ago  were  not.  The  hand-writing 
upon  the  walls  of  the  inner  sanctuary,  inscribing  the 
stern  fiat  of  mortal  doom  becomes  more  distinct,  and 
constrains  even  the  deluded  and  dreamy  Hindu  to  con- 
front the  future.  This  future  is  very  dark  and  confused, 
yet  the  old  men  feel  that  something  beyond  the  ordinary 
routine  of  puja  and  dan  are  necessary.  They  hav^e  con- 
structed wells  for  travelers ;  bathing  ghats  for  religious 
worshippers;  dkarmsd/as  (or  devotees  3.nd fakirs.  They 
have  given  alms  and  fed  Brahmans.  All  these,  they  are 
assured  are  works  of  merit,  which  are  sure  to  be  of  avail 
in  the  day  of  ultimate  reckoning ;  yet  they  do  not  bring 
any  comfort  to  the  soul,  any  healing  to  "  a  mind  diseased." 
To  achieve  something  of  transcending  meritoriousness 
is  now  their  aim.  After  consultation  with  the  family 
g-uru,  it  is  determined  to  hold  a  public  reading  of  some 
portion  of  the  sacred  writings.  This  act  is  one  of  super- 
lative value  and  excellence,  conferring  upon  the  donors 
untold  spiritual  reward.  The  Shri  Bhagavata  is  chosen 
as  the  text ;  a  pavilion  capable  of  holding  about  a  thous- 
and persons  is  erected,  with  an  extended  dais  for  the 
Brahmans  and  readers ;  and  a  number  of  learned  pandits 


1/2  THE    HINDU   AT    HOME. 

are  invited.  With  imposing  ceremonials,  the  reading  is 
opened  and  proceeds  from  day  to  day  in  the  hearing  of 
many  hundreds  of  eager  hsteners.  The  recitation  with 
the  customary  comments  takes  a  whole  month,  entaihng 
immense  trouble  and  enormous  expense  upon  the  zealous 
projectors.  On  the  last  day  there  is  a  special  piija  and 
then  a  general  feasting  of  the  Brahmans,who  areas  usual 
generously  appreciative  of  such  attentions. 

And  now  all  is  over  ;  the  multitudes  have  dispersed,  and 
Mul  Raj  and  Fateh  Singh  are  returning  home  at  dusk 
from  the  deserted  pavilion.  There  is  an  obvious  reac- 
tion from  the  busy  excitement  and  enthusiasm.  At  such 
times,  the  soul — hushed  before, — must  speak,  and  its 
utterance  is  in  the  language  of  universal  humanity. 

"  A  very  successful  performance,"  observes  Fateh 
Singh. 

"Yes,"  replies  the  elder  brother,  "but  what,  after  all,  is 
its  value  ?  " 

"  Do  not  the  Brahmans  say  that  there  is  wondrous 
efficacy  of  merit  in  the  act  ?  " 

"  Yes,  they  say  so,  and  I  suppose  it  is  true  ;  but  it  is 
strange  that  the  man  (mind)  is  none  the  lighter  or 
happier." 

"  True,"  assents  the  younger  brother,  "nor  is  there  any 
cleansing  of  this  KaiubakJit  (unfortunate)  spirit  from  the 
pollution  of  evil.  This  mail  ka  kit  (corrosion  of  filthi- 
ness)  is  just  as  deep  and  black  as  ever." 


CO 

UJ 

< 

z 

LLl 

DQ 


THE    HINDU    AT    HOME.  1 73 

At  this  moment,  there   comes   the   sound   of  sing;ino: 
from  the  centre  of  the  crowd  over  the  way : 


'to' 


^^  Jo  pdpl  Yishu  kane  awe 
Yis/iii  hat  tvaki  viiikti  karaiya  /" 

("  Whatever  sinner  comes  to  Jesus,  Jesus  gives  to  him 
salvation  !  ") 

Stepping  across  the  street,  they  stand  at  the  outer 
edge  of  the  crowd,  in  the  centre  of  which,  a  humble 
preacher  of  the  gospel  is  lifting  up  the  Redeemer  before 
the  multitude: 

"  Ai  tiun  logo,  jo  tJiake  aur  bare  bojJi  se  dabe  ho,  sabmere 
pas  ao,  ki  main  tuniJicn  ardin  diinga!' 

('*  Come  unto  me,  all  ye  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest.") 

The  preacher  plainly  and  lovingly  sets  forth  Christ  as 
a  Saviour  from  sin  and  care  and  sorrow, — dwelling  upon 
his  wondrous  love  and  sacrifice  and  sympathy, — and 
then,  like  a  faithful  witness  for  his  Master,  testifies  of  His 
power  in  His  own  salvation.  His  words,  though  not  in 
human  cunning  or  wisdom,  are  with  convincing  earnest- 
ness and  power.  While  some  deride  and  others  mock, 
there  are  two  present  at  least,  who  feel  that  the  words 
they  have  heard  have  answered  the  .deep  and  burning 
questions  ctf  the  soul. 

They  walk  home  in  silence, — those  two  brothers, — 
absorbed  in  thought.  We  leave  them  here  ; — leave  them, 
wondering  whether  the  good  seed  just  dropped,  has  been 


174  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

merely  food  for  the  birds  of  the  air,  or  the  germs  of 
eternal  life  in  the  soul ; — leave  them,  praying  that  the 
unnumbered  thousands  of  just  such  anxious  spirits, — 
knocking  to-day  with  knuckles  bruised  and  bleeding  at 
the  gate  of  spiritual  illumination, — may  be  led  to  Him 
who  is  the  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life. 

The  Hindu  at  home!  View  him  at  a  distance  with  his 
strange  mummeries  of  worship,  with  his  caste  bigotries, 
with  his  degrading  superstitions  !  The  Hindu  woman  ! 
View  her  at  a  distance  in  her  benighted  ignorance,  her 
helpless  and  servile  dependence,  her  almost  soulless 
stolidity  !  The  Hindu  child  !  View  it  at  a  distance,  in 
its  squalor  and  filth  and  nakedness ; — yes,  view  them  at 
a  distance,  and  you  stagger  at  the  spectacle  as  though  it 
were  scarcely  human,  and  your  voice  falters  as  you  ask, 
"  Can  these  bones  live  ?  " 

But  get  closer,  closer  \  look  upon  them  with  eyes  tear- 
ful with  compassion;  hear  their  cry  with  ears  attent  in 
pity,  and  you  will  find  that  they  are  your  brothers  and 
sisters,  with  strong  claims  upon  your  help  and  succour. 
Yea,  get  closer  still,  and  look  upon  them  with  the  Eye 
of  incarnated  compassion,  and  feel  for  them  with  the  Heart 
that  brake  for  their  salvation,  and  you  will  find  your 
heart  grow  warm  with  love,  and  your  arm  -nerve  with 
strong  determination,  and  your  hope  for  their  regenera- 
tion rise,  until  it  shall  grasp  the  horn  of  intercession  with 
a  confidence  that — 


THE    HINDU   AT    HOME.  1 75 

"  Laughs  at  impossibilities, 
And  cries, — it  shall  be  done  !  " 

In  India,  I  have  seen  the  boy  rescued  from  the  den  of 
a  ravening  wolf  Carried  away  when  but  a  sucking  babe, 
it  has  been  nourished  and  reared  by  the  fierce  animal. 
Years  have  passed,  and  the  huntsman  in  the  jungle  is 
startled  at  beholding  the  strange  spectacle  of  a  being, 
human  in  appearance,  yet  utterly  brutish  in  manner  and 
habit  and  taste.  With  difficulty  it  is  seized  and  rescued. 
Tied  up  with  strong  chains,  see  how  it  writhes  and  foams 
and  tears  its  bonds.  Its  language,  a  wild,  savage  and 
inarticulate  howl ;  its  outward  form,  slouched,  bowed, 
loathsome  ;  its  habits,  cruel,  bloodthirsty,  brutish  ! 

Ah  !  but  within  that  ungainly,  unpromising  casket, 
dwells  a  latent  mind,  throbs  a  slumbering  soul.  Approach 
it  with  kindness  and  hopefulness,  water  the  germ  of  mind 
with  the  tears  of  sympathy  and  pity,  and  it  will  yet 
bloom  into  the  grateful  and  odorous  plant  of  self  con- 
scious intelligence.  Those  lips  grown  thick  with  brutish 
carnage,  shall  yet  open  to  utter  words  of  pleasing  and 
coherent  sound  ;  those  eyes  in  which  the  fierce  gleam  of 
savagery  alone  survives  the  death  of  all  other  expression, 
shall  yet  burn  and  kindle  with  heaven-born  emotions. 
Ah !  yes,  there  is  a  man  hidden  beneath  that  mask  of 
brutish  ferocity ;  tear  open  the  mask,  and  the  man  shall 
stand  before  you  in  the  fullness  and  freedom  of  his 
divinely  implanted  powers. 


1/6  THE    HINDU    AT    HOME. 

Ah !  brothers,  turn  from  the  striking  figure  to  the  still 
more  striking  fact !  Beneath  the  mask  of  heathenism, 
beneath  the  superstitions  and  idolatries,  the  unnatural  and 
cruel  customs,  the  senseless  and  degrading  ceremonies  of 
the  Hindu,  beats  a  human  heart,  throbs  a  human  soul ! 
Made  in  the  likeness  of  God,  redeemed  with  the  blood 
of  Jesus,  destined  for  the  glories  of  heaven,  he  is  capable 
of  renovation  and  restoration,  yea,  of  glorious  transfigura- 
tion in  the  image  of  God  !  His  heart  may  become  the 
mirror  of  truth  and  purity,  his  soul  the  furnace  of  divine 
love,  his  lips  the  fountain  of  praise  and  thanksgiving. 
God  hath  proclaimed  the  possibility, — nay,  more,  procured 
the  means  necessary  and  adequate  to  secure  the  glorious 
consummation.  Shall  human  hearts  and  hands  co-op- 
erate to  bring  this  to  actual  realization  ?  Standing  at  the 
door  of  the  temple  of  spiritual  libertj^  and  life,  and  waving 
its  hand  to  the  lost  and  benighted  of  India,  the  Spirit 
saith,  "  Come  !  "  ;  shall  the  bride,  the  blood-bought  church 
of  Christ,  in  the  ready  consecration  of  her  treasures  and 
her  talents,  her  toils  and  her  prayers,  say  "  Come?  "  And 
shall  he  who  heareth,  upon  whose  ear  the  Master's  call 
to  forsake  all  and  follow  him,  falls  for  the  first  time,  or 
perchance,  resisted  before,  sounds  again  with  divine 
authority, — putting  his  hand  to  the  gospel  plough,  and 
determined  never  to  lookback, — echo-,  "  Come?"  ''Even 
so,  come  Lord  Jesus,  quickly,"  and  claim  thy  blood- 
bought  possession  for  thyself     Amen. 


V. 

Mission  Mosaics. 


"  If  ever  I  see  a  Hindu  converted  to  Jesus  Christ,  I 
shall  see  something  more  nearly  approaching  the  resur- 
rection of  a  dead  body  than  anything  I  have  ever  yet  seen." 
Thus  spake  the  devout  Henry  Martyn,  a  chaplain  of  the 
East  India  Ecclesiastical  Establishment,  at  the  beginning 
of  this  century.  In  our  day  a  native  paper  (the  hido 
Prakash,  of  Bombay),  whose  very  existence  is  a  triumph 
of  missionary  enlightenment,  thus  writes:  "We  daily 
see  Hindus  of  every  caste  becoming  Christians  and  devoted 
missionaries  of  the  Cross." 

That  a  great  revolution  has  taken  place  is  evident,  but 

is   this  to  be  wondered  at  ?     Certainly  not.     When  the 

mighty  leverage  of  that  engine  which  in  its  earliest  days 

had  the  reputation  of  "turning  the  world  upside  down," 

is  applied  to  uproot  superstition  and  error,  it  is  no  wonder 

that  the   mighty  fabric  quakes  and  totters.     The  whole 

matter  is   solved   in  a  single   sentence,  "  The  gospel   of 

Christ  is  the  pouter  of  God  unto  salvation." 

8*  w  177 


178  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

This  gospel  is  necessarily  and  everywhere  antagonistic 
to  error.  It  proposes  no  accommodation,  offers  no  com- 
promise, concludes  no  reconciliation  with  false  teaching. 
The  Brahman,  with  his  easy  creed  of  avatars  (incarna- 
tions) would  have  gladly  taken  Christianity  under  his 
wings ;  the  Mahomedan  *  with  his  ostentatious  rever- 
ence for  Jesus  as  a  prophet  and  teacher,  would  have 
readily  afforded  to  our  Lord  a  niche  only  a  step  lower 
than  the  Throne  of  the  Infinite.  But  the  religion  of 
Christ,  scorning  all  such  overtures,  upsets  and  overturns 
every  system  not  of  God,  and  builds  its  claims  upon  their 
charred  and  blackened  ruins.  If  it  were  not  of  God,  its 
success  would  be  hopeless ;  if  it  be  of  God,  its  conquest 
is  neither  doubtful  nor  strange. 

Tradition  ascribes  to  St,  Thomas,  among  the  Apostles, 
the  honor  of  having  proclaimed  Christ  in  India.  At  the 
dispersion  of  the  early  Church  in  Jerusalem,  Sempronius 
and  other  early  writers  affirm  that  St.  Thomas  preached 
the  gospel  to  the  Medes,  Persians,  Carminians,  Hyrcani 
and  the  neighboring  nations.  Leaving  Persia,  he  traveled 
into  Ethiopia,  and  thence  proceeded  to  Hindustan.     The 

*  The  Mahomedan  acknowledges  one  God  and  Mahomed  as  his  prophet. 
He  allows  Jesus  to  be  the  mightiest  of  the  divine  prophets,  and  character- 
izes him  as  Riih  Allah  (the  Spirit  of  God)  while  Mahomed  is  only  Rasul 
Allah  (the  prophet  of  God).  He  stumbles,  however,  at  the  Divine  Son- 
ship  of  our  Lord,  and  altogether  is  among  our  bitterest  and  most  wily 
opposers. 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  1 79 

traditions  of  the  early  Portuguese  settlers  affirm  that  St. 
Thomas  first  came  to  Socotora,  an  island  in  the  Arabian 
sea,  thence  landing  upon  the  coast  he  proceeded  inland, 
preaching  the  gospel.  At  Meliapur,  the  capital  of  the 
Coromandel  kingdom,  he  attempted  to  erect  a  church, 
which,  after  much  hindrance  and  persecution,  was  com- 
pleted,— Sagamo,  the  king,  himself  embracing  the  new 
faith.  The  Brahmans,  alarmed  at  his  auccess,  attacked 
him  while  at  his  devotions,  with  darts,  and  finally  dis- 
patched him  with  a  spear.  His  body  was  buried  in  the 
church  which  he  had  erected. 

But  few  facts  remain  with  regard  to  this  early  church. 
For  a  time  it  flourished,  and  grew  in  favor  with  the  Indian 
potentates,  and  maintained  its  position  with  much  pomp 
and  state.  It  is  beyond  doubt  that  this  very  favor  slew 
its  vitality  ;  and  its  followers  insensibly  lapsed  into  the 
wily  meshes  of  heathenism.  That  a  form  of  religion 
was  maintained  for  long  afterward  is  evident,  not  only 
from  the  traditions  which  abound,  but  from  the  monuments 
and  relics  which  remain ;  but  ceasing  to  make  war  upon 
error  the  locks  of  its  strength  were  shorn. 

A  long  period  of  darkness  intervenes,  unbroken  by  a 
ray  of  light.  In  1541,  Francis  Xavier,  called  the 
"  Apostle  of  the  Indies,"  entered  upon  his  career  as  the 
Roman  Catholic  missionary  to  India.  Personally,  it 
cannot  be  doubted  that  he  was  an  eminently  devoted  and 
useful  preacher.     He  traversed  the  southern  part  of  the 


l80  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

peninsula  from  Goa  to  the  Pearl  -fisheries  in  Comorin, 
and  thence  to  Ceylon,  always  and  everywhere  abundant 
in  labors  and  patient  under  tribulation. 

His  methods  of  work  were  more  questionable.  "  Xavier 
sent  his  catechists  through  the  villages,  and  calling  the 
people  by  the  ringing  of  a  bell,  they  read  to  them  trans- 
lations of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments 
and  the  Creedf  to  which,  if  they  assented,  they  were 
immediately  baptized  in  such  numbers  that  Xavier  wrote, 
*  It  often  happens  to  me  that  my  hands  fail  through  the 
fatigue  of  baptizing,  for  I  have  baptized  a  whole  village 
in  a  single  day.'  He  baptized  children  of  heathen  parents, 
and  multitudes  who  knew  not  the  language  in  which 
things  were  told  them.  Accessions  were  made  to  the 
Roman  church  by  mixed  marriages  of  Portuguese  with 
natives  on  condition  that  the  latter  submitted  to  baptism. 
They  transferred  idolatrous  worship  from  the  idol  to  the 
crucifix,  till  the  heathen  recognized  them  as  their  *  little 
brothers.'  The  Romanists  claimed  in  1877  over  a  million 
of  adherents  in  all  India,  though  it  is  difficult  to  reconcile 
this  with  the  returns  in  the  Government  census  of  1880." 

The  modern  Protestant  mission  in  India  was  founded 
in  1705.  The  Danes  were  the  honored  instruments  of 
this  advance.  Ziegenbalg,  the  eminent  student  of  Plalle 
University,  with  Plutschau  as  his  colleague,  forsaking  the 
most  brilliant  of  careers  at  home,  embraced  the  putrid 
corpse  of  heathenism  in    India.     His  career  was  short 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  l8l 

but  bright.  In  171 1,  Ziegenbalg  had  translated  the  whole 
of  the  New  Testament  into  Tamil,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  in  17 19,  the  Old  Testament  as  far  as  Ruth.  He  was 
worthily  succeeded  by  a  band  of  noble  men,  who  labored  in 
and  about  Tranquebar,"  Madras,  Negapatam,  Fort  St.  David 
and  Cuddalore,  with  much  acceptance  and  success. 

In  1750,  Schwartz,  the  brightest  missionary  light  of 
Southern  India,  entered  upon  his  long  and  successful 
career.  For  nearly  half  a  century  he  toiled  in  the  arid 
and  unpromising  harvest  field  with  a  devotion,  sagacity 
and  holy  enthusiasm  scarcely  paralleled  and  never  sur- 
passed. With  a  mere  pittance  of  ^^48  a  year,  clothed  in 
a  black  suit  of  dyed  dimity,  contented  with  the  humblest 
circumstances  in  life,  he  labored  on  heroically,  until  he 
beheld  the  rocks  shattered,  the  fallow  ground  broken  up, 
the  sky  of  brass  laden  with  richly  freighted  clouds,  and 
the  earth  of  iron  bringing  forth  ripened  sheaves.  He 
was  admired  and  respected  by  the  natives  on  every  side; 
to  the  treacherous  and  suspecting  potentates  around,  he 
was  the  pledge  of  Christian  honor  and  truth.  The  Raja 
of  Tanjore  reverenced  him  as  a  father.  The  terror  of 
the  Carnatic,  Hyder  Ally,  said  to  an  English  Embassy 
which  waited  on  him  with  propositions  for  a  treaty,  "  Send 
me  the  Christian  (Schwartz) ;  he  will  not  deceive  me." 
After  a  career  of  forty-eight  years  he  left  behind  him  ten 
thousand  converts. 

The   Danish   Mission   so  auspiciously  begun   and  so 


I  82  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

ably  carried  forward,  has  but  little  to  show  to-day  of  its 
ingathered  fruit.  The  caste  system  was  treated  with 
tolerance  by  the  early  missionaries,  in  ignorance,  doubt- 
less, of  its  baleful  effects ;  and  the  thorns  soon  mounted 
high  and  crushed  the  wheat.  To  this  unfortunate  and 
unwise  compromise  may  be  traced  the  comparative  failure 
of  this  most  wisely  organized  and  earnestly  prosecuted 
missionary  effort  of  modern  days. 

In  Bengal,  the  ground  had  been  partially  broken  by 
earnest  labor,  but  the  honor  of  founding  missionary  work 
upon  a  broad  and  permanent  basis  belongs  to  William 
Carey,  the  devoted  cobbler  of  Northampton,  England. 
With  his  fervent  soul  on  fire  for  the  redemption  of  the 
world,  he  went  up  and  down  his  native  land  until  he  had 
succeeded  in  infusing  some  life  and  warmth  into  the 
benumbed  heart  of  the  home  church.  The  Baptist  Mis- 
sionary Society  was  organized  in  1792,  and  William 
Carey  was  sent  out  to  India,  with  Mr.  Thomas  as  his  col- 
league. Carey  entered  upon  his  work  in  1793,  and  was 
permitted  to  labor  for  nearly  half  a  centuiy,  reaping  richly 
as  he  had  sown  unsparingly.  His  way  at  first  v/as  abso- 
lutely closed  up  by  the  unfriendliness  of  the  English 
government,  and  he  and  his  co-laborers  Marshman  and 
W^ard,  who  joined  him  later,  had  to  accept  the  hospitality 
of  the  Danish  government,  and  found  their  mission  in 
Serampore,  at  some  distance  from  Calcutta.  Here  the  work 
of  translating  the  Scriptures,  teaching  and  direct  evangeli- 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  1 83 

zationwas  steadily  carried  on.  TheprintingoftheNewTes- 
tament  in  Bengali  was  begun  May  26, 1 800,  and  was  finished 
February  7,  1801.  The  first  Bengali  convert,  Krishna  Pal, 
was  baptized  on  the  last  Lord's  Day  in  December,  1800. 

**  William  Carey  represents  the  best  type  of  modern 
missionary  hero  and  reformer.  Translating  the  New 
Testament  into  Bengali ;  on  a  farm  ;  in  the  '  factory ; '  in 
the  chair  of  Sanskrit  and  Bengali ;  translating  the  Ram- 
ayana  into  the  Vernacular  ;  founding  a  college  ;  helping 
forward  moral  and  political  reforms ;  memorializing  the 
government  to  suppress  infanticide  at  Sagar,  and  the 
abominations  of  sati ;  protesting  against  the  *  Pilgrim  tax  ' 
of  the  government;  or  establishing  a  botanical  garden,  he 
towers  sublimely  as  the  representative  of  the  noblest  and 
broadest  philanthrophy  and  aggressive  Christianity." 

Adoniram  Judson,  the  apostle  of  Burmah,  stands  at 
the  van  of  the  long  train  of  noble  missionaries  devoted 
by  Christian  America  to  the  redemption  of  the  East. 
He  commenced  his  labors  in  1 8 1 3,  and  amidst  the  severest 
opposition  from  a  despotic  monarch,  and  a  haughty  and 
indolent  people,  planted  the  gospel  in  benighted  Burmah. 
With  his  noble  and  devoted  wife,  he  endured  the  most 
harrowing  persecution ;  in  perils,  in  imprisonments,  often 
weary  and  discouraged,  he  labored  on  until,  at  the  close 
of  his  ministry,  he  could  look  back  w^ith  grateful  satis- 
faction at  the  mighty  work  wrought  of  God  and  say  "  I 
eat  the  rice  and  fruit  cultivated  by  Christian  hands,  look 


184  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

on  the  fields  of  Christians,  see  no  dwelling  but  those 
of  Christian  families."  * 

But  another  name  remains  to  be  added  to  the  noble 
band  of  missionary  pioneers,  that  of  Alexander  Duff,  of 
the  Free  Church  of  Scotland.  The  irrepressible  flame  of 
a  pure  missionary  zeal,  burning  in  his  soul  with  quench- 
less ardour,  communicated  its  warmth  to  his  church,  and 
urged  it  to  action.  After  being  twice  shipwrecked.  Duff 
reached  India  in  1830,  and  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
unique  work, — the  evangelization  of  the  high-caste  Hindu 
by  means  of  Christian  education.  He  began  his  famous 
institution  with  five  pupils,  and  in  nine  years,  they  num- 
bered eight  hundred.  That  institution  not  only  diffused 
the  rays  of  secular  knowledge,  but  poured  forth  the  light 
of  the  purest  and  most  aggressive  evangelization.  The 
converts  from  this  fountain  of  Christian  learning  have 
never  been  surpassed  for  qualities  of  mind  and  spirit.  To 
Dr.  Duff  belongs  the  honor  of  having  achieved  the  vic- 
tory in  one  of  the  most  important  contests  on  the  line  of 
missionary  progress, — the  adoption  of  the  English  lan- 
guage as  the  vehicle  of  higher  education  in  India.  To 
those  who  reap  the  fruit  of  his  labors,  it  seems  incredible 
that  a  contest  should  have  been  necessary  in  a  cause  so 
obviously  of  advantage  to  India.     Yet  the  most  stren- 

*  In  the  Baptist  church  at  Maiden,  Mass.,  there  is  a  Tablet  to  his  memory 
bearing  the  following  inscription:   ^^ Maiden  his  Birth-place — The  Oceairy 
his  Sepitlch7-e  —  Burman  Converts  and  the  Burman  Bible  his  Monument  j^  ^ 
His  record  is  on  highy 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  1 85 

uous  and  persistent  efforts  of  a  man  endowed  with  no 
ordinary  strength  of  purpose  were  required  to  break  down 
the  sentimental  Orientalism  of  the  period,  and  to  throw 
open  the  portals  of  true  progress. 

With  such  pioneers,  the  missionary  force  in  India  has 
planted  its  batteries  in  lines  of  prudent  circumvallation 
around  the  citadel  of  heathenism.  Flag  after  flag  marks 
new  arrivals  upon  the  scene  of  action.  There  are  now 
hardly  less  than  fifty  representatives  of  Mission  Societies 
or  Associations  at  work  in  India,  distributed  over 
almost  every  part  of  the  vast  continent, — 658  Foreign 
and  Anglo  Indian  ordained  agents,  674  native  ordained 
agents,  and  2988  native  lay  preachers  (making  a  total 
of  4320  preachers,  against  953  in  185 1,  when  the  num- 
ber of  ordained  native  preachers  was  only  29),  proclaim 
the  gospel  in  every  language  and  dialect  of  India.  The 
Pioneer  Woman's  Missionary  Society  was  that  of  the 
Free  Church  of  Scotland,  which  sent  out  its  first  agent 
in  1843.  Now  no  less  than  seventeen  Societies  are  rep- 
resented in  the  field,  with  a  force  of  541  foreign  and 
Anglo  Indian  agents,  and  1944  native  Christian  workers. 
Total,  2485  agents,  against  1390  in  1871.  Although 
devoted  and  zealous  women  had  before  this  period 
assailed  the  Zenanas,  and  here  and  there  forced  an 
entrance  into  its  darkened  cloisters,  this  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a  new  era  in  missionary  work,  of  peculiar  signifi- 
cance and  importance. 


1 86  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

The  means  employed  by  this  army  of  workers  demands 
some  notice  and  explanation.  The  public  proclamation 
OF  THE  GOSPEL  must  be  regarded  as  the  most  direct  and 
important  of  the  agencies  at  the  command  of  the  mission- 
ary, and  this  is,  of  course,  his  chief  and  trustiest  weapon. 
To  proclaim  the  truth  by  the  living  voice  in  the  high- 
ways and  byways,  in  street  and  market,  in  city  and 
village — -everywhere — has  been  recognized  by  every 
Missionary  Society  as  in  a  high  degree  becoming  and 
necessary. 

Standing  in  the  public  square  or  thoroughfare,  the  mis- 
sionary arrests  the  passers-by  either  by  reading  or  by 
singing, — the  latter,  especially  if  accompanied  with  instru- 
mental music,  being  by  far  the  most  effective.  The 
audience  secured,  the  judicious  preacher  proceeds  to  un- 
fold his  message  with  clearness  and  caution,  securing  as 
far  as  possible,  the  sympathy  of  his  hearers.  He  may 
begin  with  the  claims  of  God  as  Creator,  Benefactor  and 
Preserver ;  he  then  proceeds  to  expose  the  wickedness 
of  sin,  appealing  to  the  facts  of  experience  and  conscious- 
ness to  support  his  statements.  In  dealing  with  this  sub- 
ject, he  confronts  the  subtle  and  serious  difficulty  of  being 
altogether  out  of  the  normal  plane  of  his  hearers'  thoughts 
and  conceptions  on  the  point  involved.  When  he  spoke 
of  sin,  he  meant  the  actual  transgression  of  the  moral  law, 
and  of  the  defilefnent  caused  by  contact  with  evil ;  the 
Hindu  thinks  of  sin  as  the  result  of  the  association  of 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  187 

Spirit  with  a  material  body,  and  as  the  necessary  fruit 
of  secular  tics  and  domestic  relations.  Guardin^^  against 
the  danger  of  being  misunderstood,  the  preacher  advances 
to  unfold  the  righteousness  and  justice  of  God,  showing 
that  the  guilt  of  sin  cannot  but  be  obnoxious  to  infinite 
justice  in  a  sense  which  makes  mere  repentance,  without 
adequate  satisfaction  for  sins  actually  committed,  a  hope- 
less and  chimerical  expedient.  Having  now  laid  down  his 
foundation,  he  attempts  to  erect  thereon  the  necessary  and 
befitting  superstructure  of  the  vicarious  sacrifice  of  Christ, 
showing  its  exact  adaptation  to  the  needs  of  the  guilty  and 
sinful  soul.  He  closes  his  appeal  with  the  testimony  of 
actual  experience,  and  lifts  up  Christ  as  available  and 
present  to  do  the  same  work  for  all  who  will  believe. 

The  time  has  happily  gone  by  when  the  sacred  plat- 
form of  the  cross  was  made  the  arena  of  heated  and  retal- 
iatory controversy.  It  was  the  fashion  of  a  certain  class 
of  preachers  to  assail  with  wanton  ruthlessness  the  whole 
religious.system  of  their  hearers ;  and  then,  having  pro- 
voked a  controversy  in  the  most  combative  spirit,  to  re- 
tort and  retaliate  so  as  to  harass  and  annoy,  if  they  could 
not  convince  or  silence.  Such  unholy  tournaments  are 
past,  however,  and  a  better  spirit  and  wiser  method  are 
adopted  by  the  preachers  of  the  gospel.  It  happens  com- 
monly, however,  that  with  the  most  loving  and  sagacious 
preacher,  those  of  "  the  baser  sort,"  will  try  to  raise  a 
debate  or  contention ;  but  the  missionary  usually  knows 


1 88  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

his  men  and  will  skillfully  avoid  being  taken  in  the 
meshes  of  profitless  if  not  profane  disputing. 

Opinions  have  varied  among  experienced  workers  as 
to  the  ultimate  value  of  these  public  proclamations.  It 
has  been  contended  that  with  a  shifting,  restless  and  often 
contentious  audience,  a  mere  half  hour's  preaching,  even 
in  the  most  judicious  manner,  can  accomplish  but  little; 
and  with  this  view,  there  are  those  who  engage  but  little 
in  public  and  promiscuous  **  Bazaar  preaching."  While  this 
objection  has  some  weight,  and  while  there  can  be  no 
question  that  preaching  in  villages,  private  houses,  and 
other  localities  where  the  truth  can  be  more  forcibly  and 
personally  brought  home,  is  usually  more  fruitful, — these 
facts  do  not  justify  the  neglect  of  public  and  formal 
proclamation  of  truth  by  the  ambassador  of  Christ. 
Promising  sheaves  have  been  gathered  by  the  faithful 
and  earnest  preacher  in  the  crowded  bazaar,  while  in- 
fluences have  gone  forth  from  that  lifting  up  of  Christ 
in  the  sight  of  the  people,  which  he  could  neither-  compre- 
hend nor  calculate. 

The  fact  is,  this  work  of  public  preaching  has  been 
performed  in  general,  with  but  little  spirit  and  expecta- 
tion of  success.  The  missionary  has  gone  forth  to  per- 
form a  duty ;  this  done,  he  has  returned  home  **  leaving 
the  issues  with  God."  He  has  carried  the  seed  basket  in 
his  hand,  and  has  scattered  broadcast,  but  he  never 
dreamed  of  taking  the  reaping  scythe  in  expectation  of  a 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  1 89 

harvest.  The  great  deficiency  in  public  preaching  is  the 
want  of  facihty  or  means  for  holding,  directly  after  the 
preaching,  an  earnest  and  believing  prayer  meeting.  If 
it  be  expedient,  as  it  commonly  is,  to  hold  such  a  meet- 
ing upon  the  public  square  where  the  gospel  was  pro- 
claimed, there  ought  to  be  at  hand  a  suitable  place  to 
which  the  audience  can  be  invited  for  prayer  and  exhor- 
tation. Another  important  lack  is  the  neglect  to  track 
and  pursue  those  who  manifest  interest  or  anxiety  during 
the  preaching.  It  is  not  difficult  to  perceive  this,  and  a 
faithful  vigilance  and  loving  perseverance  would  often  be 
rewarded  with  gratifying  success.  On  the  first  occasion 
that  I  ever  stood  up  in  the  bazaar  to  proclaim  the  gospel, 
an  old  Mahomedan  manifested  signs  of  deep  interest  and 
concern.  He  was  afterward  spoken  to  and  visited.  His 
case  was  deeply  interesting  :  "  My  heart,"  said  he,  "  is  vile 
and  polluted,  and  I  find  it  impossible  to  rid  myself  of  this 
pollution  by  any  external  process ;  tell  me  how  I  can  be 
cleansed  within  from  sin."  He  was  led  to  Christ  as  an 
all-sufficient  Saviour,  and  in  due  time  baptized. 

It  is  a  sign  of  the  most  encouraging  hopefulness  that 
the  faith  of  God's  servants  is  reviving  in  His  ability  to 
grant  them  present  success.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Knowlcs,  of 
the  Methodist  Mission  in  Gondah,  recently  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  missionary  workers  in  India  by  a  success 
of  the  most  striking  kind  in  a  short  itinerating  tour.  He 
went  forth  with  a  chosen  company  of  praying  and  believ- 


IQO  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

ing  workers,  suitably  equipped,  and  preaching  from  place 
to  place,  he  then  and  there  offered  Christ  to  the  hearers. 
Several  came  forward  as  seekers  of  salvation ;  they  were 
instructed,  and  having  received  Christ,  were  forthwith 
•baptized,  and  have  continued  faithful  ever  since.  Among 
these  were  religious  fakirs  or  mendicants,  who  became 
traveling  preachers  (unpaid)  of  the  gospel. 

Religious  Education,  as  an  elevating  and  regenerating 
agency,  holds  a  place  second  only  to  the  public  preach- 
ing of  the  gospel.  There  is  a  philosophy"  underlying 
this  which  it  is  well  to  em.phasize.  The  Hindu  sacred 
scriptures  profess  to  teach  science  as  well  as  theology ; 
they  contain  crude  and  erroneous  theories  concerning  the 
commonest  phenomena.  The  earth,  according  to  them, 
is  flat ;  there  is  an  immensely  high  mountain  in  the 
centre  of  it,  and  it  is  the  disappearance  of  the  heavenly 
bodies  behind  this  mountain  which  makes  day  and  night. 
There  are  seven  concentric  seas  upon  the  earth,  one 
of  these  being  a  sea  of  milk.  The  eclipse  of  sun  or  moon 
is  caused  by  the  attempt  of  a  giant  demon  to  swallow  up 
these  bodies.  Such  are  some  of  the  authoritative  teachings 
of  the  Hindu  scriptures.  The  diffusion  of  true  knowl- 
edge in  dispelling  these  crude  notions,  really  unhinges 
their  traditional  faith,  and  it  needs  only  the  positive  incul- 
cation of  Bible  truth  to  build  up  a  true  faith  upon  the 
ruins  of  the  false  and  the  puerile. 

The    Educational  method   has  not   a   few  opponents, 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  I9I 

however.  In  a  recent  article  in  a  public  religious  journal, 
Mr.  Goffin  thus  criticises  this  form  of  missionary- 
work  :  "  It  would,  indeed,  be  a  singular  thing  if  schools 
and  colleges  conducted  by  earnest,  enlightened  Christian 
men  were  not  doing  a  good  work.  But  is  that  a  reason 
why  jnissiojiaries  should  feel  themselves  called  upon  to 
engage  in  it?  Are  Missionary  Societies  so  constituted 
that  anything  which  looks  like  a  good  work  and  which 
tends  in  the  direction  of  Christianity,  may  be  taken  up 
and  carried  on  by  them  ?  If  so,  I  wonder  how  it  is  that 
sonie  Society,  observing  that  railways  are  a  mission- 
ary agency,  in  breaking  down  caste,  prejudice,  etc.,  does 
not  at  once  conclude  that  it  is  its  duty  to  construct  a 
missionary  railway,  with  Christian  missionaries  as  station- 
masters,  guards  or  porters  ?  " 

The  attempted  analogy,  however,  fails  in  two  particu- 
lars, demonstrating  the  shallowness  of  the  reasoning, — 
Railway  construction,  though  a  good  work  is  not  neces- 
sarily or  in  itself  conducive  to  spiritual  regeneration, — 
Religious  (Bible)  education  is ;  again,  others,  beside  the 
Missionary,  can  run  a  Railroad,  but  no  one  beside  the 
Missionary  will  undertake  to  educate  upon  a  religious 
basis.  Hence,  such  sweeping  and  hasty  criticisms  do  not 
really  touch  the  question. 

There  is,  however,  danger  of  the  missionary  educa- 
tionist losing  sight  of  the  great  end  in  view,  and  becom- 
ing content   with    the    successful    achievement   of    the 


192  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

means.  There  is  also  the  risk  of  being  led  away  by  an 
emulative  ambition  to  outvie  the  secular  Institutions 
around,  and  this  danger  is  greatest  in  the  prosecution  of 
what  is  called  "  The  Higher  Education."  Here  tests  and 
standards  of  proficiency,  the  ordeal  of  examinations  and 
the  plaudits  of  victory,  divert,  bewilder  and  intoxicate,  and 
very  insensibly  the  great  end  is  lost  sight  of,  and  the 
arena  of  educational  tournament  entered.  Of  course,  the 
Bible  is  read,  and  a  form  of  religion  is  maintained,  but 
the  spirit  is  extinct.  What  wonder  if  such  Institutions 
are  barren  in  spiritual  results?  What  wonder  if  the 
missionary  directors  of  such  places  become  fossilized, 
dead, — provoking  the  criticism  of  their  colleagues  in 
directly  Evangelistic  work. 

That  such  an  end,  however,  is  by  no  means  a  necessary 
result  of  the  educational  method,  is  demonstrated  by  the 
success  which  has  attended  the  labors  of  the  true  mis- 
sionary teacher.  It  was  Alexander  Duff  who  first  empha- 
sized mental  enlightenment  as  a  successful  evangelizer, 
and  he  demonstrated  the  truth  of  the  propositions  by 
actual  -success.  -From  the  noble  Institution  founded  by 
him,  went  forth  not  only  scholars  of  the  highest  culture, 
but  Christian  preachers  and  teachers  such  as  Gopi 
Nath  Nandy,  Behari  Lai  Dey,  C.  Banerjea,  and  Ram 
Chandra  Bose.  The  fact  is,  the  converts  of  this  Insti- 
tution, in  respect  alike  of  their  high  caste,  superior 
mental    endowments,  devoted  piety  and  Christian   zeal 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  1 93 

and  usefulness,  have,  as  a  body,  no  superior,  and  few 
parallels. 

But  Duff  unfolds  his  own  secret.  He  planted  his 
Institution,  watered  it,  expanded  it,  matured  it, — not  for 
the  sake  of  educating, — to  make  fine  scholars, — but  to 
win  souls  to  Christ.  This  was  his  first,  his  middle,  his 
final  object.  And  he  succeeded.  Thus  may  the  mis- 
sionary educationist  succeed  to-day,  as  indeed  n\any  are 
achieving  success.  But  this  can  only  be  done  by  a  stern 
determination  to  avoid  the  inviting  race  of  competition 
with  secular  schools,  and  in  rigidly  keeping  before  the 
mind,  the  thought  that  the  success  of  missionary  educa- 
tion is  to  be  measured  not  by  the  strength  of  the  gradu- 
ating class,  but  by  the  number  of  souls  brought  to 
Christ. 

An  example  of  the  power  of  true  knowledge  to  under- 
mine the  error  of  traditionary  faith  is  found  in  the  follow- 
ing interesting  narrative.  Thirty  years  before  the  great 
rebellion  of  1857,  when  there  was  but  little  mental  activ- 
ity in  India,  two  young  men,  a  Brahman  and  a  Mahom- 
edan,  were  employed  as  teachers  in  a  Government 
school  at  Ahmednuggur.  Their  English  education  had 
undermined  their  respective  beliefs,  and  overthrown  their 
traditional  usages,  so  that  these  two  friends  lived  together, 
ate  together  and  with  other  low  caste  persons.  Thus 
situated,  the  Holy  Ghost  poured  light  into  their  darkened 
minds,  and  revealed  to  them  their  lost  condition.  They 
9  N 


194  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

knew  not  what  to  do  since  they  had  no  missionary 
enhghtenment  or  help.  They  accordingly  sought  rest 
for  their  souls  in  a  sort  of  Deism,  evolved  out  of  their 
own  thoughts  and  from  books  on  natural  religion.  They 
obtained  a  book  of  Christian  prayers,  and  having  erased 
the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  used  them  in  their  devotions. 

At  this  juncture,  Dr.  Duff,  visiting  the  American  Mis- 
sion at  Ahmednuggur,  delivered  a  lecture  to  the  Euro- 
peans and  English  speaking  natives  upon  the  evidences  of 
Christianity.  The  two  men  were  struck,  enlightened,  con- 
vinced, and  after  a  sanguinary  struggle,  resolved  to  embrace 
the  truth.  They  stood  up  for  baptism  together,  the  Brah- 
man and  the  Mahomedan.  Six  years  afterward  the 
latter  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  gospel,  while  his 
friend  devoted  himself  as  a  teacher  and  writer.  'To-day 
the  former  is  the  able  Mahratti  editor  of  the  Dnyano- 
daya^  in  Bombay,  the  latter  a  zealous  missionary  in 
Satara. 

This  narrative  illustrates  the  destructive  work  which 
the  diffusion  of  knowledge  upon  a  non-religious  basis  is 
doing;  it  unhinges  the  faith  of  the  student,  but  offers 
him  nothing  instead.  Herein  appears  the  necessity  of 
associating  the  Bible  with  the  work  of  education ;  so 
that,  as  the  hold  is  relaxed  from  rotten  straw  and  stubble, 
the  hand  may  lay  hold  upon  the  eternal  cable  of  safety. 

Thus  directed  and  helped,  the  rescued  soul  may 
become   the   germ  of  a   broad   harvest.     Mr.    Hume,  a 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  I95 

missionary  in  Western  India,  recently  related  the  follow- 
ing encouraging  incident.  More  than  twenty  years  ago 
a  student  from  a  remote  village,  in  Northern  India,  came 
to  Bombay,  and  entered  the  Institution  of  the  Free 
Church  of  Scotland.  He  was  led  to  Christ,  and  with  his 
new  treasure,  returned  like  the  eunuch  of  Candace,  to 
his  own  country.  He  told  his  story,  men  and  women 
listened,  believed  and  professed  faith  in  Christ.  His 
brothers  came  to  Bombay,  were  baptized  and  returned  to 
their  village.  A  little  congregation  of  thirty  or  more 
through  their  preaching  believed,  and  formed  themselves 
into  a  church.  Until  March,  1883,  no  missionary  other 
than  these  brothers  had  visited  the  village.  Then  Mr. 
Hume  was  persuaded  to  go,  and  found  the  Christian 
congregation,  though  still  unbaptized.  On  his  first  visit 
the  missionary  baptized  seventeen  persons,  and  thirteen 
again,  a  few  months  later.  A  plot  of  ground  has  been 
selected  for  a  church,  and  the  building  commenced  upon. 
The  native  church  in  Bombay  have  sent  a  missionary  to 
this  region,  whose  expenses  are  all  borne  by  this  noble 
band  of  disciples. 

The  Press  cannot  but  be  recognized  as  another  of  the 
vital  factors  of  power  in  the  great  work  of  evangelization. 
There  is  no  religion  besides  Christianity,  which  lays  such 
stress  upon  the  necessity  of  widely  disseminating  its 
scriptures.  Hence,  the  primal  need  for  the  enlistment  of 
the  Press.     The  publication  of  the   Holy  Scriptures,  in 


196  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

whole  and  in  portions,  in  the  various  languages  and  dia- 
lects of  India,  necessitate  the  fullest  employment  of  this 
agency. 

But  in  addition  to  this,  a  Christian  literature  must  be 
created  and  carried  forward.  This  must  have  respect  to 
two  classes  of  persons — those  who  are  within  and  those 
who  are  without  the  fold  of  the  Christian  Church, — the 
first  devotional  and  confirmatory,  the  latter,  polemical 
and  apologetic.  The  growing  native  Christian  Church 
needs  to  be  nourished,  fed,  strengthened,  and  this  must  be 
done  by  placing  before  it  a  wholesome  and  nutritious 
literature.  The  want  of  appetite  which  exists  in  this 
direction,  can  only  be  remedied  by  careful  education  and 
by  bringing  within  reach  a  literature  at  once  interesting, 
edifying  and  inexpensive. 

For  the  masses  of  non-Christians,  a  series  of  concise, 
attractive  and  inexpensive  books  or  tractates  reviewing 
existing  systems  of  religion  in  a  kindly  but  candid  spirit, 
and  demonstrating  the  truth  of  the  religion  of  Christ,  is 
the  need  of  the  hour.  Valuable  contributions  have  been 
made,  and  the  foundation  of  a  purely  indigenous  litera- 
ture has  already  been  laid  by  competent  men,  such  as 
Rev.  Nehemiah  Nilkanth  Goreh,  and  Maulvi  Safdar 
Ali ;  and  the  work  is  in  course  of  rapid  enlargement. 

As  to  the  distributive  agency,  sale  at  cheap  prices  is 
now  almost  entirely  superseding  the  system  of  gratuitous 
distribution  formerly  in  vogue.     This  is  found  to  be  pro- 


MISSION   MOSAICS.  1 9/ 

ductlve  of  enlarged  interest  on  the  part  of  the  recipi- 
ents, so  that,  except  hand  bills  and  tracts  of  two  or  four 
pages  which  are  scattered  broadcast  over  the  land,  no 
gratuitous  distribution  exists.  But  the  price  fixed  is,  in 
every  case,  low, — not  equalling  the  cost  price,  even  in  the 
sale  of  scriptures.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  since  the 
general  adoption  of  the  system  of  sale,  the  circulation 
of  this  class  oi  literature  has  largely  increased. 

The  Rev.  G.  O.  Newport,  of  Madras,  gives  the  follow- 
ing facts  as  to  the  circulation  of  religious  literature  in 
Southern  India : — "  We  find  that  during  the  past  ten  ^ 
years,  about  7,223,400  Tamil,  1,300,400  Telugu,  321,200 
Malayala,  728,000  Kanarese,  42,200  Hindustani,  7600 
Mahratti  and  220  Guzerati  publications  have  been  issued, 
making  a  total  of  9,623,020;  and  that  thus  an  average  of 
about  a  million  per  year  are  in  current  circulation  in 
South  India." 

This  is  a  good  exhibition,  but  the  power  of  the  Press 
in  India  is  only  in  the  dawn.  This  has  a  two-fold  work 
to  do,  to  wake  up  the  dormant  mental  activity  of  a  slug- 
gish people,  and  then,  when  the  appetite  is  created,  to 
provide  a  suitable  supply  for  it. 

Medical  Work  is  another  of  the  engines  used  by  the 
missionary  to  commend  the  gospel  of  #lirist,  the  Great 
Physician.  In  a  country  like  India,  where  the  density  of 
the  population,  the  poverty  of  the  people,  the  absence  of 
all  sanitary  regard  and  regulation  and  the  frequent  sweep 


1 98  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

of  devastating  epidemics,  expose  human  life  to  more 
than  the  ordinary  risks  of  disease  and  death,  with  far  less 
means  at  command,  in  the  form  of  competent  medical 
skill,  to  meet  the  emergency, — the  combination  of  the 
knowledge  of  healing,  with  missionary  zeal  and  energy, 
cannot  but  prove  an  appreciated  boon.  Dr.  Batchelor,  a 
missionary  from  Midnapore,  says, — "In  our  preaching  to 
the  heathen,  we  largely  fail  in  making  them  understand 
what  Christianity  really  is ;  we  say  '  thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbour  as  thyself,'  and  they  respond,  '  yes,  that  is  a 
,  noble  sentiment,'  but  they  do  not  understand  it  because 
they  have  never  seen  it  illustrated.  Called  out  of  bed  at 
night,  not  complaining  that  needed  rest  is  broken ; 
watching  by  the  side  of  the  sick  and  dying,  inspiring 
courage  and  hope,  affording  such  aid  as  we  may  be  able, 
we  may  say,  this  is  what  we  mean.  Go  thou  and  do 
likewise.  It  is  asked,  who  may  practice  medicine  ?  I 
reply,  he  who  knows  how,  and  he  who  can.  Have  you 
that  faith,  which  is  the  gift  of  God,  that  may  heal  the 
sick?  Use  it.  With  the  fact  that  it  is  not  popular,  that 
many  have  no  faith  in  it,  you  have  nothing  to  do.  The 
question  is,  can  yo2i  do  it  ?  If  you  can,  do  it  in  the  Mas- 
ter's name,  and  let  no  man  forbid  you.  If  you  know  one 
remedy  for  a  given  disease  and  can  use  it,  do  so  with- 
out stopping  to  raise  the  question  of  authority." 

Dr.  Scudder,  of  Vellore,  adds — "  Even  a  partial  knowl- 
edge of  medicine  is  an  unparalleled  power  for  a  Mission- 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  1 99 

ary  In  India.  The  heart  of  that  man  who  is  freely  treated 
for  sickness  has  been  gained  by  the  Christian  preacher. 
In  a  village  visited  for  several  years  with  little  effect,  I 
saw  a  boy  with  a  tumour  and  lanced  it  successfully,  I 
was  always  welcomed  in  that  village  afterward.  Another 
time,  a  brother  of  mine,  not  a  doctor,  was  called  to  see  a 
woman  in  sickness.  He  relieved  her,  and  at  that  place  we 
have  one  of  our  best  village  churches  with  one  hundred 
members." 

The  Establishment  of  Hospitals  and  Dispensaries,  and 
the  training  up  of  native  medical  assistants,  men  and 
women,  are  the  natural  channels  into  which  the  medical 
missionary  work  flows  and  amplifies,  each  in  turn  assum- 
ing proportions  of  magnitude  and  importance. 

The  Woman's  Missionary  Work  is  not  so  much 
another  method  of  missionary  work,  as  a  separate  depart- 
ment comprising  in  measure  all  the  methods  here  referred 
to.  It  has  its  directly  evangelistic,  its  educational  and 
its  medical  sections, — together  comprising  a  missionary 
force  whose  effectiveness  is  only  surpassed  by  the  vast 
need  which  has  called  it  into  existence.  When  it  is 
remembered  that  more  than  half  of  the  immense  non- 
Christian  population  of  India  is  female,  that  centuries  of 
exclusion  and  ignorance  within  the  walls  of  the  Zenana 
have  extinguished  all  mental  activity  and  almost  every 
spiritual  aspiration  from  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  Hindu 
woman,  that  the   social  gulf  existing  between   different 


200  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

castes,  between  the  two  sexes  in  the  same  caste,  between 
brother  and  sister,  and  husband  and  wife  in  the  same 
family,  are  so  wide  and  deep  as  to  preclude  utterly  the 
percolation  of  a  regenerating  knowledge  from  one  caste 
to  another,  from  one  household  to  its  neighbor,  and  even 
from  the  males  to  the  females  of  the  same  household, — 
the  necessity  for  a  house  to  house,  heart  to  heart  work 
among  the  women  of  India,  is  demonstrated.  The  Male 
Missionary  is  of  course  incompetent  for  this, — even  the 
Medical  Missionary  may  not  pierce  the  pardah  of  the 
Zenana,  to  save  a  human  life ;  * — hence  the  necessity  of 
a  Woman's  Christian  Mission. 

"  Woman's  work  in  England  and  America,"  says  Miss 
Thoburn,  of  Lucknow,  "  is  economy,  a  division  of  labor 
that  results  may  be  greater  and  more  readily  attained ; 
but  woman's  work  in  India  is  a  necessity,  without  which 
a  wide  field  must  remain  uncultivated."  We  would  go 
further,  and  affirm  that  the  mission  work  in  India  has 

■^  J,  Talboys  Wheeler  relates  an  incident  in  his  Indian  Tales  which  illus- 
trates this :  An  English  physician,  named  Fryer,  was  summoned  from 
Bombay  to  Joonere,  to  attend  the  Mogal  governor's  family.  One  of  the 
ladies  of  the  Zenana  was  sick.  The  Astrologers  were  first  consulted  and 
fixed  a  lucky  day  for  the  interview.  Then  a  healthy  damsel  was  put  in  a 
bed  carefully  shut  round  with  curtains,  and  the  wrist  held  out  for  the  phy- 
sician to  fed  her  pulse.  This  was  to  test  his  skill.  The  doctor  at  once 
detected  the  cheat.  Then  he  was  introduced  to  the  real  patient  and 
treated  her  successfully.  Cases  even  of  such  pardah  treatment  of  Zenana 
women  by  male  physicians,  are  exceedingly  rare. 


MISSION    MOSAICS.       .  201 

arrived  at  a  point  where  it  can  press  its  victories  no 
farther  upon  the  mass,  except  there  move  in  parallel  lines 
the  advancing  column  of  female  evangelization.  Miss 
Greenfield,  of  Ludiana,  Panjab,  in  speaking  on  this 
subject  before  the  Calcutta  Missionary  Conference  of 
1882,  did  not  overstate  the  case  when  she  said, — "In 
listening  to  the  eloquent  speeches  of  our  brethren  on  the 
important  topics  that  have  already  occupied  the  attention 
of  this  conference,  I  have  been  struck  by  this  fact  that 
speaker  after  speaker  has  urged  that  by  bazaar  preaching, 
by  higher  education,  and  other  branches  of  mission  work, 
you  are  dealing  heavy  blows  at  the  head  of  the  gigantic 
form  of  heathenism,  which  it  is  our  mission  to  meet  and 
to  conquer.  'Higher  education,'  we  are  told, 'was  to 
slay  Hinduism  through  its  brain,' — though  it  has  not 
done  so  yet.  My  sisters,  you  and  I  in  all  our  woman's 
weakness  and  conscious  insufficiency  are  here  in  India  to 
strike  the  death  blow,  not  at  the  monster's  head,  but  at 
his  HEART,  and  by  God's  help,  we  shall  drain  out  his  life- 
blood  yet.  For  I  believe  that  the  heart  of  Hinduism  is 
not  in  the  mystic  teaching  of  the  Vedas  or  Shastras,  not 
in  the  finer  spun  philosophy  of  its  modern  exponents, 
not  even  in  the  bigoted  devotion  of  its  religious  leaders, 
but  enshrined  in  the  homes,  in  the  family  life  and  in  the 
hereditary  customs  of  the  people ;  fed,  preserved,  and 
perpetuated  by  the  wives  and  mothers  of  India.*     Let  us, 

*  *'  There  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  but  that  the  religious  fairs  and  fes- 
9* 


202  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

in  our  Master's  name,  lay  our  hand  on  the  hand  that 
rocks  the  cradle,  and  tune  the  lips  that  sing  the  lullabies. 
Let  us  win  the  mothers  of  India  for  Christ,  and  the  day- 
will  not  be  long  deferred  when  India's  sons  also  shall  be 
brought  to  the  Redeemer's  feet. 

"  The  Parijdbis  have  a  proverb  to  the  effect  that  a  car- 
riage cannot  run  with  only  one  wheel,  and  use  it  to 
illustrate  the  fact  that  man  and  wife  must  pull  together 
if  the  household  is  to  prosper.  I  think  the  Mission 
chariot  is  no  exception  to  this  rule ;  that  even  though 
you  may  consider  woman's  work  a  very  small  wheel,  like 
the  little  wheel  of  the  bicycle,  still  that  little  wheel  bears 
an  important  share  in  the  general  progress ;  and  I  venture 
to  think  further  that  your  carriage  will  be  all  the  steadier 
and  run  more  safely,  when  the  two  wheels  are  of  equal 
size,  and  run  on  parallel  lines,  instead  of  one  behind  the 
other  y 

The  advance  of  evangelization  in  India  is  nowhere  so 
marked  as  in  the  woman's  work.  Doors  of  opportunity 
have  been  flung  open,  the  ramparts  of  incarceration 
stormed  and  scaled,  and  the  Lady  Missionary  is  now  a 
welcome  visitor  in  the  Zenanas.  The  difficulty  is  not 
now  to  find  an  entrance,  but  to  find  qualified  and  conse- 
crated women  to  enter  the  open  doors.  The  great  work, 
however,  is  only  just  begun,  and  before  this  evangelizing 

tivals  of  the  countiy  are  maintained  mainly  through  the  influence  of  Hindu 
women." — Madras  Census  Report, 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  203 

force  there  waits  the  most  wonderful  revolution  which 
the  world  has  ever  seen. 

The  work  among  the  young,  being  done  by  the  Sun- 
day School,  is  among  the  most  recent  developments  of 
mission  work,  but  by  no  means  the  least  important. 
Until  recently  it  was  not  believed  that  the  students  of  our 
Mission  Schools  could  be  gathered  together  on  Sundays 
solely  for  religious  instruction,  and  as  to  being  able  to 
collect  children  for  Sunday  instruction  apart  from  and 
without  the  inter-medium  of  the  day  school, — such  a 
thing  was  inconceivable.  Yet  both  these  are  not  only 
possible,  but  demonstrated  to  be  entirely  practicable.  To 
illustrate  this,  the  Rev.  B.  H.  Badley,  of  Lucknow,  notes 
that  in  Sitapur,  in  1868,  there  was  but  one  Sunday  School 
with  ten  scholars.  In  1872,  the  Missionary  in  charge 
wrote,  "  We  find  it  impossible  to  maintain  Sunday  Schools 
without  secular  schools  as  a  basis."  In  1882,  ten  years 
later,  the  Missionary  reports  for  the  same  field,  twenty- 
eight  Sunday  Schools  attended  by  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  three  scholars. 

The  practicability  of  such  schools  being  demonstrated, 
their  importance  is  beyond  question.  To  leaven  the 
young  mind  with  true  knowledge,  to  undermine  error 
and  false  teaching,  before  these  have  grown  into  gnarled 
roots  imbedded  in  the  soil,  to  lay  the  foundation,  intel- 
lectually at  least,  of  the  true  faith  in  the  mind  of  the 
young,  are  sufficient  to  commend  this  work  to  the  Mis- 


204  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

sionary,  even  if  no  immediate  saving  results  be  manifest. 
But  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  faithful  labor  may 
reap  even  this  result.  Mr.  Badley  narrates  the  follow- 
ing : — "  In  one  of  our  city  Sunday  Schools,  was  a  boy 
of  fourteen,  Sita  Ram,  the  son  of  a  carpenter.  He 
attended  Sunday  School  regularly,  opened  his  heart  to 
the  truths  taught,  became  deeply  interested  in  the  lessons 
and  hymns,  and  was  a  model  scholar.  He  fell  sick  and 
was  soon  brought  to  the  point  of  death.  He  sent  for  the 
Catechist  and  asked  him  to  read  to  him  of  Jesus  and  to 
sing  the  Sunday  School  hymns  once  more.  The  Cate- 
chist read  and  sang  and  prayed.  The  boy  said  to  his 
sorrowing  relatives,  *  Don't  weep  for  me  ;  I  have  accepted 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  he  is  calling  me  home ; '  and 
thus  he  passed  away.  He  still  leaves  in  the  memory  of 
all  who  knew  him  an  illustration  of  the  power  of  the 
Bible  to  awaken,  and  of  Christ  to  save.  His  sister,  older 
than  he,  continued  to  attend  the  girl's  Sunday  School, 
and  manifested  her  interest  in  the  gospel  in  many  ways ; 
this  year  she  also  passed  away,  and  I  doubt  not  has 
joined  Sita  Ram  in  the  '  happy  land,'  of  which  they 
learned  in  the  Sunday  School.  The  other  members  of 
the  family  are  now  candidates  for  baptism." 

Encouraging  progress  has  been  made  in  the  extension 
of  this  hopeful  work,  and  in  the  Methodist  Missions  alone 
there  is  now  an  army  of  eighteen  thousand  Sunday-school 
pupils  and  teachers,  receiving  regular  religious  instruc- 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  20$ 

tion,  and  this  is  only  the  small  beginning  of  a  work  whose 
importance  it  is  not  possible  to  overstate.  In  its  expan- 
sive possibilities,  the  Sunday  School  work  has  indeed  but 
a  single  limitation,  the  want  of  sincere  and  consecrated 
teachers,* — the  actual  working  expense  of  a  school  being 
so  small  as  to  hardly  constitute  a  feature  of  serious  con- 
sideration. 

Such  are  the  methods  and  agencies  employed  by  the 
diligent  Missionary  for  the  accomplishment  of  his  great 
work.  The  end,  the  ultimate  purpose,  before  him  is  one^ 
— the  evangelization  of  the  multitude ; — the  methods  of 
operation,  many  and  diverse.  Whether  preaching  in  the 
streets  or  bazaars,  itinerating  in  the  villages,  expounding 
the  truth  in  some  lowly  church,  teaching  in  the  day 
school,  superintending  translations  of  God's  word,  direct- 
ing the  press,  originating  a  literature,  visiting  the  zenanas, 
or  leading  a  Sunday  School  of  ragged  boys  or  girls 
under  a  tree  or  within  a  house, — the  faithful  husband- 
man is  sowing  good  seed  in  expectation  of  a  sure  and 
speedy  harvest.  Going  forth,  bearing  precious  seed,  it 
may  be  with  weeping,  he  "  shall  doubtless  come  again 
with  rejoicing  bringing  his  sheaves  with  him."      Doubt- 

■^  The  ideal  teacher  for  the  Sunday  School  is  a  voluntary  laborer, — a  man 
or  woman  truly  converted  and  consecrated,  devoting  himself  to  this  work 
for  the  love  of  it.  When  this  class  of  teachers  is  not  available  in  sufficient 
force,  the  Missionary  is  compelled  to  content  himself  with  less  effective 
and  promising  instrumentality ;  even  such  supply,  however,  is  limited. 


206  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

LESS ;  this  Is  the  Divine  security  against  failure,  the  abso- 
lute guarantee  for  ultimate  victory ! 

What  are  the  results,  thus  far,  of  these  arduous  and 
diversified  labors  ?  Notwithstanding  the  difficulties  of 
the  field,  the  long  continued  unfriendliness  if  not  antag- 
onism of  the  Government,  the  inadequacy  of  the  mis- 
sionary force,  there  are  to-day  no  less  than  six  hundred 
thousand  Protestant  Christians  in  the  Native  Christian 
Church  of  India,  Burmah  and  Ceylon.*  That  this  har- 
vest is  not  due,  mainly,  to  the  labors  of  the  heroic  pio- 
neers of  the  gospel  in  India,  but  that  a  healthy  and 
encouraging  growth  is  in  progress,  is  demonstrated  by  a 
comparison  between  the  statistics  of  previous  decades, 
which  shows  that  the  rates  of  increase  from  1851  to  i86i, 
was  fifty-three  per  cent;  from  1861  to  1871,  sixty-one 
per  cent.  ;  while  from  1871  to  1 881,  it  was  eighty-six  per 
cent. 

*In  1881,  the  N.  C.  Church  was  divided  as  follows:  . 

Madras 299,742 

Bengal      .    . ' 83,583 

Burmah 7S»5io 

Ceylon 35»7o8 

Bombay 11,691 

N.  W.  Province 10,390 

Central  India 4*885 

Punjab      .        4,672 

Oudh 1,329 

527,510 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  20/ 

The  number  of  actual  communicants  may  be  set  down 
at  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand,  and  here,  too,  an  inspir- 
ing advance  is  manifest.  The  number  of  communicants 
nearly  doubled  in  the  first  decade,  and  more  than  doubled 
in  the  two  following  decades.  In  every  city,  in  almost 
every  town  of  India,  you  may  meet  with  churches  and 
congregations  of  devout  native  Christians,  and  though 
you  may  not  understand  their  speech,  there  is  a  language 
which  you  cannot  misunderstand, — the  language  of  the 
tear-dimmed  eye,  the  heaven-lit  brow,  the  throbbing 
breast,  as  laying  his  hand  upon  his  heart,  and  lifting  his 
right  arm  before  God,  the  grateful,  devoted  convert  thus 
testifies — "  Whereas  I  was  once  blind,  now  I  see  ! " 

But  the  work  going  forward  is  not  to  be  measured  by 
tabulated  statistics, — it  is  too  deep,  too  broad,  too  still, 
for  arithmetical  observation  and  measurement.  The  pow- 
erful leaven  of  the  gospel  is  working  its  way  into  the 
masses,  and  its  influence  may  be  traced  in  diverse  forms 
and  different  degrees  of  revolutionary  power.  Individuals, 
far  away  from  any  mission  station  or  agent,  have  received 
a  stray  seed  of  truth  into  the  heart,  but  this  seed  has 
remained  and  borne  fruit,  though  no  servant  of  Christ  has 
known  of  it.  A  young  man  in  Southern  Orissa  told 
some  Baptist  Missionaries  the  following  story  about  his 
father :  "  About  two  years  ago,  my  father  put  a  quantity 
of  merchandise  upon  his  bullock's  back,  and  went  on  a 
three  day's  journey  into  the  district  to  attend  a  market. 


208  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

While  there  he  met  a  friend  of  his  from  another  village, 
from  the  opposite  direction.  This  friend  said  to  him,  '  I 
have  three  little  books  teaching  a  new  religion.'  He 
showed  them  to  my  father,  and  my  father  asked  him  to 
give  him  one,  and  he  did.  When  he  got  home,  he  put 
away  his  bullocks,  and  washed  his  feet,  and  sat  down  to 
read  his  book,  and  that  book  perfectly  bewitched  my 
father.  In  a  few  days  he  had  lost  his  appetite,  and  as  he 
read  the  book,  we  noticed  great  big  tears  trickling  down 
his  cheeks,  and  he  became  altogether  a  changed  man,  his 
face  looked  so  sorrowful  and  sad.  We  thought  father 
was  bewitched  by  that  book,  and  we  must  burn  the  book 
and  mix  the  ashes  in  water  and  give  it  to  him  to  drink  to 
take  the  witches  out  of  him ;  but  he  guarded  the  book 
and  we  could  not  get  at  it.  As  he  read,  sirs,  a  still  more 
wonderful  change  came  over  him ;  his  tears  dried  up,  his 
face  became  happy,  and  his  appetite  returned,  and  he  took 
food  as  usual.  But  he  would  not  go  to  the  idol  temple 
any  more,  and  he  would  not  have  any  thing  more  to  do 
with  Hinduism  or  the  Hindu  religion.  Well,  sirs,  father 
died  a  year  ago ;  but  when  he  was  dying  the  Brah- 
mans  came  and  stood  about  the  door,  and  wanted  to 
come  in  and  get  their  presents,  but  father  waved  them 
away  with  his  hand  and  said,  *  No  Brahman's  are  needed 
here, — I  need  not  your  help;'  and  he  would  not  allow  a 
Brahman  to  set  foot  inside  his  house.  Then,  when  we 
saw  the  end  was  approaching,  my  mother,  my  brothers, 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  2O9 

and  myself,  gathered  around,  and  said,  '  Father,  you  are 
dying,  you  are  dying;  do  call  on  Krishna,  for  you  are 
dying.'  He  looked  up  with  a  pleasant  smile,  and  said, 
*  My  boy,  I  have  a  better  name  than  that, — the  name  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  of  whom  I  read 
in  my  little  book  ;  that  is  a  better  name  than  Krishna.' 
And  my  father  died,  sirs,  with  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ 
on  his  lips." 

That  such  precious  fruit  may  be  borne  even  within 
the  dark  walls  of  the  Zenana  dungeon,  is  demonstrated 
by  the  touching  incident  of  a  girl  in  Calcutta,  who,  when 
dying,  called  for  water  and  solemnly  baptized  herself  in 
the  name  of  Jesus ;  then,  placing  an  open  Bible  over  her 
head,  as  a  token  of  crowning,  she  trustfully  committed 
herself  to  the  Redeemer  of  the  world,  and  breathed  her 
last. 

Such  examples  of  the  power  of  the  gospel  are  not 
confined  to  individuals  ;  whole  communities  and  societies 
have  been  discovered  in  remote  parts  of  India,  acknowl- 
edging Christ  as  the  true  and  only  Saviour,  and  believing 
in  His  word.  Almost  every  missionary  of  experience 
has  instances  of  this  kind  to  narrate,  and  while  sometimes 
foolish  va2:aries  are  found  intertwined  in  the  faith  of  these 
quasi-Christian  communities,  there  is,  nevertheless,  a 
hopeful  and  significant  strand  of  gospel  light  and  trust 
bound  up  with  the  rotten  threads  of  error.  Sometimes, 
companies     of    fakirs     or     religious     mendicants    are 


2IO  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

found  acknowledging  Christ  as  their  Satya  Guru,  or  True 
Teacher.  They  sing  Christian  hymns,  pray,  read  the 
gospels,  and  teach  others  to  do  the  same.  Some  years 
ago,  I  met  three  Hindu  fakirs  in  a  sequestered  village, 
openly  professing  Christ  as  their  Lord  and  Saviour,  with 
a  band  of  no  less  than  two  hundred  disciples.  They 
were  accustomed  to  meet  regularly  for  prayer  and  sing- 
ing and  reading  of  a  portion  of  the  gospels.  This 
society  had  been  organized  by  the  oldest  fakir,  then 
about  eighty  years  old,  who,  while  a  young  man,  had 
received  and  read  a  part  of  the  New  Testament,  and  had 
received  the  truth  In.  simplicity  and  power. 

The  mighty,  yet  for  a  time  silent,  working  of  the  gos- 
pel leaven  is  illustrated  further  by  the  frequent  mass 
movements  which  have  occurred  In  the  history  of  mission 
work  in  India.  Among  the  Karens,  the  Santhals,  the 
Shanars  and  other  tribes  in  India,  the  fruit  of  the  toils  of 
years  has  been  gathered  In  by  handfuls  In  a  single  day. 
Take  the  following  as  an  example :  "  In  1853,  a  mission- 
ary and  his  native  preacher  visited  Ongole,  seventy-seven 
miles  north  of  Nellore,  and  were  reviled  and  stoned.  In 
1865,  twelve  years  after,  that  missionary  and  another 
visited  Ongole,  and  the  second  missionary  remained  and 
became  resident.  In  1867,  a  church  was  organized  at 
Ongole,  with  eight  members.  On  March  15,  1878,  the 
little  church  numbered  one  hundred  and  ten,  and  the  mis- 
sionary says  that  he  was  not  baptizing  anybody,  though 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  211 

fifteen  hundred  persons,  from  near  and  far,  requested 
baptism.  On  June  6,  1878,  after  careful  examinations 
conducted  through  months,  Mr.  Clough,  the  resident 
missionary,  and  his  native  assistants,  commenced  baptiz- 
ing the  persons  clamoring  for  it.  One  day,  they  baptized 
two  thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-two.  Between 
July  6th  and  i6th,  they  baptized  eight  thousand  six  hun- 
dred and  ninety-one." 

*'  Tinnevelly,  in  the  extreme  southern  part  of  India,  was 
the  scene  of  a  like  marvelous  movement.  After  twenty 
years  of  preparatory  toil,  in  seven  months,  more  than 
sixteen  thousand  souls  placed  themselves  voluntarily 
under  instruction,  with  a  view  to  Christian  baptism."  * 
Sir  John  Lawrence,  the  wise  administrator,  the  thought- 
ful observer,  the  devout  Christian,  has  left  this  record  of 
his  opinion  : — "  It  seems  to  me  that,  year  by  year,  and 
cycle  by  cycle,  the  influence  of  these  missionaries  must 
increase,  and  that  in  God's  good  will,  the  time  may  be 
expected  to  come,  when  large  masses  of  the  people,  hav- 
ing lost  all  faith  in  their  own,  and  feeling  the  want  of  a 
religion  which  is  pure  and  true  and  holy,  will  be  con- 
verted and  profess  the  Christian  religion ;  and,  having 
professed  it,  live  in  accordance  with  its  precepts." 

Passing  from  quantity  to  quality,  we  inquire  for  a 
moment  as  to  the  actual  character  of  the  work  wrought 
by  the  gospel  in  India.     Survey  the  individual  convert 

*  J.  T.  Gracey's  India^  p.  149. 


212  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

and  take  into  view  his  situation  and  circumstances.  Here 
is  the  average  Hindu, — thoughtless  and  self-satisfied, 
walking  in  the  traditions  of  his  fathers,  totally  without 
care  or  concern  of  any  kind  with  regard  to  his  future. 
Hearing,  for  the  first  time,  the  proclamation  of  the  truth, 
conviction  fastens  upon  him,  and  he  is  deeply  stirred  in 
spirit.  He  hears  of  human  guilt  and  sin,  of  the  infinite 
justice  of  God  which  can  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty, 
and  in  the  depth  of  his  soul  there  is  born  the  anguished 
cry — "  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  "  The  preacher 
then  descants  upon  the  love  of  God  and  of  the  sacrifice 
of  Jesus,  and  dwells  upon  the  richness  and  breadth  of  the 
promise — "  Him  that  cometh  unto  me  I  will  in  no  wise 
cast  out."  And  alongside  of  the  guilty  terror,  there  is 
begotten  in  the  man's  soul  a  new  hope,  which  thrills  his 
being. 

With  these  feelings  aroused  and  in  conflict,  he  repairs 
to  his  home.  Thoughtfully,  abstractedly,  he  stands  in 
the  centre  of  the  old  domestic  circle.  There  is  the  old 
patriarch,  his  father,  at  whose  feet  he  has  sat  for  two- 
score  years ;  there  is  his  aged  mother,  bowed  under  the 
weight  of  years,  already  tottering  on  the  edge  of  the 
grave ;  there  are  brothers  and  sisters,  in  loving  compan- 
ionship with  whom  his  life  has  been  spent ;  there  is  his 
wife,  tenderly  beloved,  and  there  are  his  own  children, 
caressed  and  cherished.  Standing  in  the  centre  of  that 
domestic  circle,  and  looking  round,  there  comes  to  him 


MISSION   MOSAICS.  21 3 

this  stupendous,  overwhelming  question  :  "  Will  you  give 
up  all  these  and — follow  Christ  ?  "  We  have  heard  of 
sanguinary  struggles,  we  have  read  of  Waterloo  and 
Gettysburg  and  of  other  fierce  fields  of  earthly  carnage, 
but,  mark,  in  that  man's  soul  a  Gettysburg  is  being  foiigJit, 
whose  terrible  fierceness  no  earthly  conflict  ever  par- 
alleled. We  recall  the  sublime  faith  of  the  patriarch, — 
the  altar  of  rough  and  unhewn  stones,  the  first-born  bound 
and  laid  thereon,  the  sharp  knife,  gleaming  at  one  moment 
above  the  patriarch's  head,  in  the  next — sheathed  in  the 
heart  of  the  only  son, — had  not  God  averted  the  blow ! 
Behold  here,  however,  a  spectacle  still  more  sublime. 
The  altar  of  sacrifice,  rough,  jagged  and  frowning ;  upon 
it  are  laid  father  and  mother,  and  brothers  and  sisters,  and 
wife  and  children,  and  home  and  kindred,  and  a  thousand 
cherished  bonds  and  associations.  There  stands  the  con- 
victed Hindu  with  the  knife  of  sacrifice  gleaming  in  his 
hand.  Help  him,  O  God  of  Truth,  in  this  hour  of  trial ! 
One  cry  for  succour,  one  look  of  earnest  imploration,  and 
see, — the  knife  descends,  and  pierces  Jiis  oivn  sotd  to  its 
tenderest  core,  as  self-crucified,  dead,  he  goes  forth,  turn- 
ing his  back  upon  all  earthly  treasures  and  possessions, 
with  his  choice  upon  his  lips  in  a  single  word, — Christ  ! 
What  may  we  expect  to  be  the  quality  of  such  a  dis- 
ciple ?  And  in  truth,  his  life,  his  career  of  devoted  use- 
fulness, his  death  of  holy  triumph,  bear  out  fully  these 
anticipations.     Mr.  A.  H.  Baynes  refers  to  but  a  specimen 


214  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

case  when  he  says,  "  I  shall  never  forget  as  long  as  I  live 
that  day  when,  in  the  glow  of  the  eventide,  as  the  sun  was 
sinking  and  the  mists  were  creeping  over  the  land,  I 
walked  with  one  of  our  native  brethren  by  the  river  side, 
and  saw  a  light  in  the  dim  distance,  when  he  said  to  me, 
*  Yonder  is  the  only  Christian  in  all  that  great  town.' 
Ten  years  ago,  he  received  Christ  into  his  heart ;  his 
father  and  mother  turned  him  out ;  his  friends  forsook 
him ;  his  neighbors  persecuted  him,  and  all  these  years 
he  has  stood  his  ground,  scarcely  getting  food  to  eat. 
During  all  these  ten  years  he  maintained  his  Christian 
character  unspotted  in  the  midst  of  the  heathen  around 
him,  and  the  native  brother  said  to  me,  *  Now  his  business 
is  reviving,  because  people  say  he  sells  the  best  things, 
and  always  means  what  he  says.'  I  entered  his  humble 
hut,  and  sat  down  upon  the  ground  by  his  side,  and  as 
I  discoursed  about  his  loneliness  and  his  sadness,  the  tears 
sprang  into  his  eyes,  and  he  said,  *  No,  I  am  never  lonely, 
for  as  Christ  was  with  the  Hebrew  children,  and  as 
He  was  with  Daniel  in  the  lion's  den,  so  all  these  years 
has  He  been  with  me.' " 

While  many  hold  forth  the  torch  of  a  holy  example  in 
lowly  life,  others  have  risen  to  prominent  and  devoted 
usefulness  in  honorable  positions,  foremost  among  whom 
is  the  Christian  pastor  and  preacher.  Already  does  the 
force  of  the  ordained  native  Christian  agent  exceed  the 
foreign,  and  this  force  is  relatively  on  the  increase  with 


MISSION   MOSAICS.  21  5 

rapid  strides.  Among  these  preachers  and  pastors  are 
persons  no  whit  behind  any  body  of  men  in  vigor,  devo- 
tion and  usefulness.  "  The  theological  Seminary  of  the 
Karens  has  been  left  in  charge  of  natives  and  suffered  no 
loss.  In  the  Jaffna  College  of  Ceylon,  and  in  the  Tamil 
seats  of  learning,  natives  have  been  successful  professors. 
In  the  great  Conference  of  Christian  Missionaries  at 
Allahabad,  Calcutta  and  elsewhere.  Christian  converts 
from  various  castes  of  Hindus  and  Mahomedans  sat  side 
by  side  as  peers  with  graduates  of  Oxford,  Cambridge, 
Yale,  Princeton,  Williams  and  Middletown  Universities." 

When  tried  in  the  furnace,  they  exhibit  the  most  ex- 
alted qualities  of  the  Christian  hero  and  martyr.  I  have 
known  of  two  Panjdbi  itinerating  preachers  of  singular 
devotion  and  zeal,  brutally  assaulted,  knocked  down  and 
trampled  upon  while  preaching.  Yet  when  the  mob 
were  arrested  and  brought  to  trial,  they  besought  their 
release  with  such  tender  earnestness,  as  awed  and  moved 
the  people,  and  left  such  an  impression  of  the  truth  of 
the  religion  they  professed  upon  the  minds  of  the  people, 
as  can  never  be  effaced. 

Gopi  Nath  Nandy,apupil  of  Dr.  Duff's  and  the  respected 
native  missionary  of  Futtehpore,  with  his  wife,  passed 
through  the  fiery  ordeal  of  the  terrible  Sepoy  rebellion  un- 
scathed. Led  before  the  cruel  despot  who  then  usurpe'^^ 
authority  in  that  part  of  India,  and  before  whom  Cnristian 
blood  was  constantly  flowing,  he  was  required  summarily 


2l6  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

to  recant  his  faith  or  die.  His  wife,  apart  from  her  husband, 
was  subjected  to  the  same  trial.  Both  proved  faithful 
unto  death,  and,  although  a  merciful  Providence  saved 
their  lives,  they  proved  their  loyalty  to  Jesus  in  the 
severest  ordeal  which  can  visit  the  believer. 

The  character  of  the  work  in  its  broader  relations  to 
the  people  at  large,  presents  a  view  equally  inspiring  and 
hopeful.  Reforms,  social,  moral  and  religious,  of  the 
highest  magnitude,  are  among  the  fruit  of  missionary 
labor.  The  legislative  enactments  against  human  sacri- 
fices, infanticide,  widow  burning,  a  thousand  cruelties  and 
tortures  practised  for  ages  in  the  name  of  religion,  are  the 
offspring  of  evangelical  activity,  the  fruit  of  the  prayers 
and  toils  of  Christian  missionaries.  The  India  of  to-day 
is  as  unlike  the  India  of  a  century  ago  as  two  totally 
different  countries  can  be.  The  dark  shadows  of  super- 
stition have  lifted,  and  the  light  of  the  glorious  gospef 
has  begun  to  shine  upon  the  benighted  continent.  No- 
where is  the  change  so  marked  as  in  the  domestic  rela- 
tions of  the  Hindu.  For  ages,  women  have  been  debased, 
degraded,  down  trodden.  Heathenism  has  no  such  word 
as  Home  in  its  dark  vocabulary,  no  such  conception  in 
its  unnatural  economy.  The  light  of  the  gospel,  however, 
is  piercing  into  the  stagnant  dungeons  of  the  Zenana, 
lighting  up  the  darkened  minds  of  the  women,  and  pre- 
paring them  to  take  their  position  as  the  sinews  of  a  re- 
generated society.     Sister,  wife,  mother,  are  beginning  to 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  21/ 

express  a  significance  of  meaning,  never  before  compassed 
in  the  phraseology  of  natural  kinship.  The  sacred  bonds 
and  associations  of  home  are  already  founded  upon  the 
eternal  foundations  of  gospel  truth,  and  a  superstructure 
of  social  regeneration  may  soon  be  confidently  looked 
for.  Thus  the  household,  the  community,  the  nation, 
have  felt  the  life-thrill  of  the  gospel,  and,  casting  off  the 
shackles  of  superstition  and  darkness,  have  already  felt 
the  first  glow  of  the  transfiguration  which  is  at  hand. 

"  Watchman,  what  of  the  night  ? "  From  the 
above  review,  it  will  be  evident  that  the  actual  and  ascer- 
tained results,  measurable  by  statistical  facts,  as  well  as 
the  secretly  permeating,  yet  potent  in-working  of  the 
mighty  forces  of  the  gospel  of  Christ,  demonstrate  to  a 
certainty  that  the  work  of  India's  regeneration  is  going 
forward  surely  and  speedily.  The  hand  of  God  is  upon 
the  heart  of  the  nation,  stricken  with  disease  and  blighted 
with  eld, — and  there  is  healing,  regeneration  and  uplifting 
in  his  touch. 

Yet,  another  question : — When  may  the  day  of 
India's  Redemption  be  expected  ?  The  answer  to 
this  question,  and  the  responsibility  involved  in  it,  remains 
with  the  Church  of  God  which  stands  at  the  back  of  the 
missionary.  Let  the  Church  be  cold,  spiritless  and  for- 
mal, heartless  in  prayer,  feeble  in  faith,  selfish  and  strait- 
ened in  her  gifts  and  offerings,  and  that  day  may  be 
deferred  to  distant  decades  and  generations  yet  unborn. 

lO 


2l8  MISSION    MOSAICS. 

But  let  the  Sacramental  Host  of  God  awake  to  its  respon- 
sibility, and  grasping  the  horns  of  the  altar  with  holy- 
earnestness  and  unwavering  faith,  lay  itself,  with  its  tal- 
ents and  treasures,  upon  the  altar  of  sacrifice,  determined 
to  do  its  whole  duty,  and — who  shall  dare  to  say,  that 
the  day  of  final  emancipation  and  glorious  liberty  for  the 
nations  that  now  sit  in  darkness,  need  be  deferred  a  gen- 
eration hence  ? 

A  tremendous  responsibility  descends*  upon  the  pray- 
ing, professing  Host  of  God.  For  the  past  centuries, 
the  Church  has  been  waiting  upon  its  Great  Head  for  the 
quickening  of  the  world,  praying  upon  bended  knee  and 
with  uplifted  hands, — "  Thy  Kingdom  come."  How,  if 
it  should  appear  in  the  great  day  of  account,  that,  while 
the  Church  was  waiting  upon  God  for  the  redemption  of 
the  world,  God  was  waiting  upon  His  Church,  with 
the  tender  pleading  of  old — "  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into 
the  store-house  that  there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house, 
and  prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I 
will  not  open  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out 
a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive 
it."  (Mai.  iii.  lO.)  Is  this  not  the  very  blessing  we  want, 
— a  Pentecostal  effusion,  an  overflow  of  Divine  plenitude 
and  power  that  shall  overrun  the  nations  and  bring  in  a 
reign  of  righteousness  and  peace  ? 

What  is  the  solemn  demand  upon  the  Church  by  the 
Great  Head,  in  view  of  this  stupendous  emergency  ?     A 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  2I9 

practical  consecration  and  a  mighty  faith!  There  are 
men  and  women  to-day,  in  the  rear  ranks  of  the  Church 
who  ought  to  be  laboring  for  God  and  lost  souls  in  the 
van  of  the  missionary  force.  The  Lord  has  spoken  to 
them,  the  Holy  Ghost  has  planted  a  seal  upon  their  brow 
and  unfolded  a  commission  before  their  eyes,  but  alas ! 
they  have  not  obeyed.  In  the  great  Sepoy  rebellion  of 
1857,  the  focus  of  mutiny  naturally  centred  at  Delhi,  the 
seat  of  the  old  Mogal  Kings.  It  became  the  key  of  the 
whole  rebellion  ;  all  eyes  were  turned  towards  that  capital 
of  crime.  Delhi  must  be  taken  at  all  costs,  and  that 
speedily.  The  conflagration  raged  on  every  side,  but 
here  was  the  vital  point.  At  last  Delhi  is  invested ;  and 
shot  and  shell  play  fiercely  upon  the  doomed  city.  In  a 
week  the  breaches  are  practicable,  and  the  terrible  assault 
is  ordered.  On  that  day,  the  post  of  honor  and  of  dan- 
ger is  assigned  to  General  Nicholson,  who  is  to  blow  up 
the  Cashmere  gate  and  storm  with  sword  and  bayonet, 
the  most  deadly  quarter  of  the  city.  He  goes  forth 
gallantly  to  his  allotted  duty.  The  gate  is  reached  with  a 
loud  huzza,  amid  a  blinding  storm  of  bullets.  **  Who  shall 
lay  the  train  to  storm  that  gate  of  brass  ?"  He  is  certain 
to  be  destroyed,  but  volunteers  rush  to  the  front  in  an 
instant.  One  man  is  chosen,  but  no  sooner  does  he  move 
forward,  than  he  is  shot  down.  Another  and  another  gal- 
lantly take  the  hero's  place  and  meet  with  the  hero's  death. 
At  last  the  fearful  charge  is  laid,  and  all  is  ready.     "  Who 


220  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

shall  fire  the  train  ?"  See,  they  are  ready  by  scores  to 
leap  into  the  jaws  of  death,  and  the  list  of  heroes  swells 
grimly  before  the  work  is  done.  But  it  is  done,  and  then, 
through  bursting  gates  and  tottering  walls,  and  blinding 
smoke  and  hurtling  bullets,  and  a  pandemonium  of  dia- 
bolical yells  and  shrieks,  the  victorious  host  cleave  their 
way  and  Delhi  is  stormed,  though  the  brave  Nicholson 
falls  to  rise  no  more. 

If  Delhi  represent  the  world  of  heathenism,  then  is 
India  the  Cashmere  gate  of  the  grim  fortress.  In 
this  storming  of  the  very  key  and  citadel  of  heathen- 
ism, shall  the  great  Captain  call  for  volunteers,  and  none 
respond  ?  Shall  it  be  said  in  the  courts  of  heaven,  in 
the  dungeons  of  hell,  that  Jesus  led  the  van  of  the  mighty 
assault,  but  when  the  gate  was  reached,  there  was  none 
to  lay  the  charge,  to  fire  the  train,  at  his  behest  ?  The 
cry  along  the  line  of  God's  anointed  host  is  for  volun- 
teers, who  will -go  forth  to  dare,  to  do,  and  if  needs  be  to 
die,  for  the  redemption  of  the  world.  Consecration,  in 
a  word,  of  body,  soul  and  spirit, — of  the  whole  living 
being, — for  the  service  of  this  holy  sacrifice  upon  the 
altar  of  a  world's  regeneration. 

Consecration,  moreover,  of  substance  and  possession ; 
of  the  Church's  temporal  treasure  in  a  sense  and  meas- 
ure unknown  since  the  days  of  the  first  Pentecost.  The 
Church  needs  her  first  lesson  over  again  In  the  great 
work  of  holy  beneficence.     This  whole  phraseology,  with 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  221 

the  idea  which  it  covers,  of  "  sparing  "  so  much  for  the 
Lord's  cause  is  miserably  attenuated,  bedwarfed  and 
anti-scriptural.  It  is  what  you  sJiall  sacrifice,  not  what 
you  call  spare,  which  the  Lord  accepts.  His  eye  is  not 
upon  what  you  offer,  but  upon  what  remains  after  the 
offering  is  made ;  and  many  claim  to  give  the  widow's 
mite,  who  have  no  right  to  the  sacred  title,  for  "  she  of 
her  want  did  cast  in  all  that  she  had,  even  all  her 
ivmg. 

The  fact  is,  we  want  more  alabaster  boxes  broken,  and 
the  precious  ointment  poured  out,  in  holy  recklessness, 
at  the  feet  of  Jesus.  Mary  surveys  the  beautiful  box  as 
she  prepares  to  go  to  her  Lord,  and  One  hisses  in  her 
ear,  "  Why,  Mary,  you  cannot  take  that  to  Jesus  ;  it  is  the 
most  precious  thing  you  have  got."  One  look  of  hesita- 
tion, and  then  I  see  Mary  tower  up  to  the  full  height  of 
loving  consecration,  as  she  resolutely  takes  the  box,  say- 
ing— "  Yes,  it  is  the  most  precious  thing  I  have,  and 
THEREFORE  it  shall  be  given  to  Jesus." 

And  now  she  approaches  her  Lord,  and  thoughts  deep 
and  unutterable  fill  her  soul,  and  so,  unheeding  the 
beauty  of  the  box  and  the  cost  of  the  ointment, — absorbed 
indeed  with  but  one  passion, — she  shatters  the  box  and 
pours  the  ointment  upon  his  feet.  Is  it  any  wonder  that 
the  Lord  pronounced  upon  her  the  warmest  encomium 
that  ever  fell  from  his  lips — "  She  hath  done  what  she 
could ; "  while  angels  picked  up  the  fragments  of  that 


222  MISSION   MOSAICS. 

broken  alabaster  box  to  teach  the  Church  her  duty  of 
consecration.  "  The  room  was  filled  with  the  odour  of 
the  ointment ;  " — the  Christian  world  has  been  filled  with 
the  odour  of  that  grateful  sacrifice,  and  its  precious  aroma 
is  with  us  to-day. 

Yes,  consecration  of  ourselves  and  our  substance, — the 
best  of  our  powers  and  our  possessions  for  God !  The 
breaking  of  beautiful  alabaster  boxes,  at  present  laid 
away  for  selfish  uses,  opened  now  and  then  with  trem- 
bling hand  and  a  few  drops  of  the  precious  ointment 
poured  out  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  with  a  timid  fearfulness 
lest  we  exceed  the  limits  of  a  judicious  moderation. 
Away  with  the  cold  calculation  of  a  Judas  ;  let  the  Church 
emulate  the  holy  consecration  of  Mary.  Then  shall 
prayer  gather  strength,  and  faith  take  wings,  and  hope 
receive  an  inspiration,  until  the  chariot  wheels  of  salva- 
tion, no  longer  dragging  through  the  mire  heavily,  shall 
speed  upon  their  way,  freighted  with  rich  benediction  upon 
the  nations  of  the  earth ;  until  the  dawning  in  the  East 
shall  brighten,  and  the  Sun  of  Righteousness,  appearing 
above  the  horizon,  shall  ascend  to  the  meridian  in  glory 
and  strength,  while  all  the  peoples  of  the  earth  shall 
rejoice  in  His  light;  until  this  globe,  so  long  belted 
with  blackness,  shall  be  girded  with  glory,  and  South 
shall  join  hands  with  North,  and  East  with  West  in  a 
doxology  of  universal  praise ;  until  the  sad  imploration 
of  the  Church  for  weary  centuries  past,  "  Thy  Kingdom 


MISSION    MOSAICS.  '  223 

come,"  shall  be  transformed  into  the  joyful  anthem, 
*'  The  Kingdoms  of  this  world  have  become  the  King- 
doms of  Our  Lord  and  of  His  Christ;"  until  the  Lord 
Himself,  once  delivered  for  our  offences  and  wounded 
for  our  transgressions,  shall  be  enthroned ;  and,  with 
Praise  for  a  diadem  and  Power  for  a  sceptre,  shall  reign 
supremely  and  forever ; — 

"  Until  this  land,  so  dear,  so  sorrowed  o'er. 
With  all  its  load  of  misery  and  sin, 
After  long  ages  of  transgression,  turn, 
And  pierced  in  heart  with  love  the  shaft  of  Kings, 
Fall  down  and  bathe  His  blessed  feet  with  tears ; 
Then  rise,  and  to  the  listening  world  tell  out 
Her  deep  repentance  and  her  new- found  joy ! 
******* 
O  day  of  days  !   far  off  its  coming  shone 
The  hope  of  ages  past ;    O  joy  of  joy. 
To  see  it  come  at  length  !     O  double  joy. 
If  we  have  watched  and  wept  and  toiled  and  prayed, 
'Mid  the  deep  darkness  of  the  night  of  tears. 
To  speed  the  advent  of  that  mom  of  joy, 
Whose  sun,  once  risen,  shall  never  more  go  down 
While  the  Lord  God  Omnipotent  doth  reign, 
And  the  great  ages  roll,  in  golden  calm. 
Through  the  high  Sabbath  of  Eternity."  * 

*  By  Dr.  Mun-ay  IMitchell ;  read  at  the  Decennial  Missionary  Conference, 
at  Calcutta,  1882. 


THE    END. 


••fr-'.v:^;v.'.' 


•  <■  .■■''■'.>:,•>■'■■.■><>. 
■■:::^-y.':-:-^<:.:.<^/'\'>:^. 


BL1201.081 

India  and  its  millions, 

Princeton  Theological  Semlnary-Speer  Library 


1    1012  00009  6489 


